Lily and James Potter: Their Story
by Little House Girl
Summary: This is the story of Lily and James Potter. From an earlier hatred, they grew to respect and love each other, aware of their future son and the terrible fate that lay before them. COMPLETE!
1. First Year: Part One

A/N: This is my first L/J fic, so don't flame (actually, you can flame all you want, but I'm just saying :P I hope you enjoy! J 

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Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except for a few of my made up characters like Violet Walker, Jennifer Dean, Professor Hurst, etc.

Lily and James: Their Story

Lily Evans stared nervous around King's Cross. Where was Platform 9 ¾? As a matter of fact, was this "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" even in existence, or was this all a stupid joke? As her eyes darted rapidly toward the barrier between 9 and 10, her eyes rested upon a boy dragging a trunk like her, with an _owl._

She blinked, and looked at her own tawny owl, which was nipping its beak. Should she dare ask the boy for directions? 

Lily decided that she would. "Excuse me," she called, lugging her trunk and owl, which she named Hannah, along with her. "Would you happen to know how to get on Platform 9 ¾?"

The boy looked puzzled for a moment. He's a bit cute, thought Lily, as he pondered on her question. 

"The platform?" he repeated, still puzzled. "You don't know how to get on the _platform_?"

"Well you don't have to rub it in," replied Lily, ruffled.

The boy laughed. "Oh, it was just a joke. Of course I know how to get on the platform. I'm James, by the way," he said, extending his hand towards Lily, "James Potter."

"Lily Evans," replied Lily, relieved that there was some way to get onto the platform. "So—how _do_ you get on the platform?"

"Simple. All you do is walk straight ahead between Platform 9 and 10. Don't worry," he reassured, as he spotted Lily's doubtful look, "it's not difficult. It looks solid, but trust me, you'll be able to do it. Unless if someone's sealed the barrier. Anyway, you'd better run if you're a bit nervous."

Lily thanked him, and stared straight ahead at the solid wall between Platforms 9 and 10. She ran straight ahead, closing her eyes, and waiting for the crash, but it didn't happen. When she opened her eyes, she saw a scarlet engine with the words "Hogwarts Express" on it. She felt relieved, and felt a tapping on her shoulder. It was James.

"So you did make it, eh?" he said teasingly. "Didn't think you'd crash, did you?"

"No," said Lily haughtily, and she could hear James chanting, "carrots, carrots" behind her. She raised her hand to slap him, but instead she slapped an innocent bystander, who was passing James.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, ignoring James' sniggers behind her. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm—fine. Watch who you're going to slap next time, though." The boy looked extremely stiff, and Lily shuddered. He had black, greasy hair with cold black eyes, examining Lily closely from head to toe. 

Then he spotted James and replied acidly, "I suppose this is your girlfriend, Potter? Pity… she's cute, too. Too bad she's too clumsy for the liking of me."

James opened his mouth in protest, but the boy continued. "I suppose you're wondering who I am, Potter?"

"Of course I know who _you_ are," said James, glaring at the boy. "Dad's told me about you. You're Severus Snape, I presume?"

"At your service," he said, with a snicker. Then he rounded onto Lily. "And who are _you_?"

"Lily Evans," Lily said. She didn't like the boy too much.

"Never heard of you," said Snape disdainfully. "What do your parents do? Do they work for the Ministry of Magic?"

"The what?" Lily stared at the boy.

"Oh. You don't know. I thought so, you're a mudblood." He sneered. "I suppose your parents were _so_ proud when you got your letter."

"As a matter of fact, they were," snapped Lily. She felt a rush of anger in her.

"Look Snape," interrupted James, staring coldly at the greasy boy, "leave her alone, will you? It's a bad enough experience not knowing much about our world, so don't give Lily a hard time."

"Oh, sticking up for your girlfriend, Potter?" asked Snape, sneering. "What are you naming the children?"

Before James could reply, Lily whipped her wand out of her jeans pocket and gave a casual wave, leaving Snape mouthing furiously, but with no sound coming out.

"How did you do that?" asked James, astonished. "We haven't even learned the Silencing Charm yet!"

Lily shrugged. "I tried a few simple spells at home."

"James! James, over here!" A boy was calling James, grinning widely. He halted as he spotted James talking with Lily, and grinned even more widely.

"What, is this your new girlfriend, Jamie?"

"For the last time, Lily is not my—" began James crossly, but the boy cut him off.

"Sirius Black, at your service," said the boy, bowing to Lily. "And who is this precious flower?"

"Lily Evans," said Lily, grinning at the boy's comical antics.

"I see," said Sirius, still smirking at James. "So—Lily. How is Jamie-boy treating you?" He gestured James with a casual wave with his arm.

"Oh, he saved me from probably many insults from Snape," said Lily, pointing her finger towards Snape, who was still silently mouthing.

"Wow! How did you do that Silencing Charm? Even Dad didn't expect me to do that!" exclaimed Sirius, looking envious.

"It's quite a simple spell. I can show you if you like."

James sniffed, and Sirius turned his way, still grinning. "Aw, jealous of your girlfriend, Potter?"

"She is _not_ my girlfriend!" cried James angrily. 

"We'd better get on the train," said Lily hurriedly. "It's leaving in five minutes."

"By golly, you're right! Come on, Jamie, let's follow your girlfriend."

With James not even protesting after Sirius' comment the three of them both hurried onto the train, looking for an empty compartment.

There were no empty ones to be found, so Lily collapsed in one that was almost empty, except for a pretty girl with brown curls sitting by herself in a corner.

"Hi," greeted Lily. "May I sit here? The other compartments are full."

"Sure," said the girl brightly, scooting over and pushing her luggage to the side. "I'm Arabella Figg."

"Lily Evans."

"Nice to meet you Lily."

Before Lily could say another word, the compartment doors slid open, revealing Sirius and James laughing.

"Lily! How charming to see you again! Oh," he said, his eyes falling on Arabella. "Who are you?"

"Arabella Figg," replied Arabella primly.

"Oh," he said, disinterested. "Sirius Black. Lily," he said, directing his attention to Lily again, "guess what we did to old Snape?"

"What?" asked Lily eagerly. She had soon found her first enemy at Hogwarts.

"We let him talk a bit more, and took off the Silencing Charm. Then James found a simple spell of bounding a person with rope, so we used that on Snape and—" Sirius stopped and grinned wildly. "Well, no doubt he's looking for us right now."

"Oh, Sirius, you bad boy!" cried Lily in relish. Sirius grinned and bowed. Lily suddenly realized then that James and Arabella were in the compartment too, so she turned to the shy, brown-curled girl.

"Are you a first year?"

Arabella's face brightened. "Yeah. My father works and is the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, so we pretty much know the latest news about Quidditch matches. What about your family?"

"Well…my father works at a business—stocks," said Lily. Then, looking at Arabella's confused expression, she added, "I'm muggle born."

"Oh! My apologies…but what are stocks?"

So Lily went explaining to Arabella, James, and Sirius about her whole family and the Muggle world. All three were fascinated, just as Lily was fascinated with everything about the hidden wizarding world.

"Petunia's my sister—a real pain," Lily added, making a face. "She hates me."

"Why?" asked Sirius.

"Because, she hates magic, and she thinks I'm a freak because I'm a witch." She shrugged. "Petunia's odd at times, but she hangs around that fat boy, Vernon—"

She stopped, noticing James' eyes on her. He blushed, noticing her gaze, and turned away. Sirius saw this immediately and took advantage of it.

"Ah, Jamsie entranced by your girlfriend's ethereal beauty?"

"Ethereal?" James raised his eyebrows. "Since when have you been using big words like 'ethereal', Sirius? How long did it take you to learn it? A month?" He snickered.

Sirius turned red. "My dad said it was a good word to impress a girl," he muttered, shrugging.

Both Lily and Arabella burst into giggles, making both James and Sirius annoyed.

"Girls," mumbled James, "I don't think I'll ever understand them."

"'Course you won't, they're of a different species," replied Sirius airily, secretly smiling at the furious looks on Lily and Arabella's faces.

"Sirius Black—" began Lily, but the compartment doors slid open once more, and Severus Snape went storming in, grabbing the cuffs of both James and Sirius.

"Black! Potter! You two will pay for what you've done to me. The witch with the food cart had to say the counter-curse…"

"Food cart?" Sirius bounced out of Snape's grasp and looked eagerly around. "Where?"

Before Snape could properly answer, a smiling plump witch pushed in a food cart into their compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she said, smiling, but frowning slightly at Snape's fierce grasp on James' shirt.

"Not fighting I hope, Severus? I trust _these_ are the boys responsible for using the Body Bind curse on you?"

"They are, ma'am," said Snape oily. He glared at Sirius and James. "Black and Potter."

"Well…" she looked around, "anything off the trolley, dears?" she repeated.

Lily and Arabella both stuffed their hands into their pockets and both pulled out a pile of coins each. "We'll take the lot," they both chorused together.

After the plump witch left, dragging Snape along with her, Arabella, Lily, James, and Sirius were all happily chewing on their purchases.

"D'you think the witch will come back again?" asked Sirius through a mouthful of pumpkin pastries.

"Hmm…I don't think so," said Lily thoughtfully, biting delicately into a Cauldron Cake. "What are these?" She held up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. There was a rush of explanations right after her question.

"Oh Lily, they're my favorite sweets—"

"Really excellent they are, every flavor—"

"They _mean_ every flavor, careful there, you might get sprouts or booger—"

Lily bit into one. "It tastes like…dirt," she said flatly and promptly spat it out. "Gross," was her comment. She then picked up another box. "Chocolate Frogs? They aren't real frogs, are they?"

"No, it's just a spell. Each box has a card, of a famous witch or wizard. I collect them…have about five hundred," explained Arabella.

"I've got—Dumbledore!" 

"I've got about ten of him," bragged Sirius. "Hey—let me see what you got, Bells."

"Bells?" Arabella's brows shot up. "Since when have you started to call me 'Bells'? We've only met!"

"I have a habit of making a nickname for every person I meet," said Sirius simply. He turned to Lily. "Like Lily's is…Flower."

"Flower?" cried Lily.

James snorted. "What about me, Sirius? You haven't got one for poor old James."

"'Course I do. I have three: Jamie, Jamie-boy, and Jamsie."

Lily grinned. "They suit you too _Jamsie_." She and Arabella burst out laughing.

James grimaced. "Well, _Flower_, I wouldn't count it on your nickname." He laughed, but was the only one. 

"Well—" began Lily, but Arabella cut her off.

"At least she's pretty, James!"

"Pretty? Her?" James sniggered.

"She _is_ pretty, James," said Sirius, looking serious for a change.

"Oh, so now it's James again?" 

"You have to admit Flower's pretty," replied Sirius, staring at Lily, pretending to drool.

Lily turned a brilliant red. "I'm not pretty," she said defiantly.

Arabella gave her a reproving look. "Of course you are, Lily!"

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I most definitely am not!"

"Hey, Bella, Evan's is actually telling the truth for once."

Lily glared sharply at him. "I hate you, James Potter."

"And I you, Lily Flower."

Sirius looked from Lily to James and to James and Lily with glee. "Oh, our favorite couple fighting, is it?"

Both rounded onto Sirius like wolves. "_Couple_? Since when have we become a _couple_?" demanded James.

Before Sirius could reply, Lily exclaimed, "He's gone!"

"Who—who's gone?"

"Dumbledore!"

"Oh…" said Arabella, trying not to laugh, "oh, don't worry, Lils, he'll be back."

"But he moved?"

"Of course he moved, where have you been, Lily? All pictures move in our world."

"They do?" Lily made a face. "Where I'm from, the pictures just stay the same way the whole time."

"Really?" Bella was astonished. "That's weird!"

The train suddenly slowed down, then stopped. "We're there!" shrieked Arabella, smiling. As the doors swung open by students wearing billowing black robes with a shining badge with a "P" on it, Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella jumped off and hastily changed into their black Hogwarts robes.

"Firs' years this way!" came a loud boom from behind them. Lily jumped and turned around. There stood the largest man she had ever seen in her life. Large, and with a bushy black beard, his warm, crinkling, black eyes twinkled down at her. 

"You a firs' year?" he asked.

"Er—yeah."

"Then c'mon, follow me. Yer all supposed to come down with me an' arrive at Hogwarts in them boats." He gestured towards a fleet of boats nearby.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella, along with many other nervous first years, followed the giant meekly. "I'm Hagrid, by the way!" he called over the tumultuous crowd. "Rubeus Hagrid!"

"By golly, is that man huge!" emphasized Sirius as we followed Hagrid to the fleet of boats.

"He seems nice," said Lily absently.

"He's huge!" repeated Sirius, not listening to a word Lily was saying.

"Firs' years into them boats! C'mon, now, hurry up! Now, let's see…yeah, er, no more'n four to a boat!"

Lily, James, Sirius, and Arabella all scrambled into a boat together, watching with awe as it slowly moved on the lake, causing ripples on the dark, smooth surface.

"Look at that!" squealed Arabella. "It's Hogwarts!"

They all followed her gaze, and gasping as well. Hogwarts was enormous. It was castle with many doors, windows, and probably hundreds or maybe thousands of classrooms inside. Lily stood, gaping, but James prodded her.

"Come on, it's time to go inside," he hissed.

We all followed Hagrid into the castle, and many more gasps were audible. The hall was simply huge—and the ceilings were probably hundreds of feet high. A strict witch in black robes was waiting at the foot of the stairs. She looked stern, with a serious face, spectacles, and her hair was bound tightly into a bun. 

"First years this way, please," she said, her tone sounding slightly impatient. "I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will be joining your classmates, but first you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has produced outstanding wizards and witches. While you are in this school, your House is like your family. Any triumphs will earn you points; any rule breaking, and you will lose points. The House with the most points at the end of the year will be presented the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that you will all be helping and supporting whichever House you are in to this honor. Now, please follow me, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

The first years followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall, now looking positively terrified. Many students were seated in one of four tables, and were looking curiously at the newly arrived first years.

"How _exactly_ do we get sorted into our Houses?" whispered Lily to Arabella, as the first years followed Professor McGonagall.

"I think it's some sort of test, but my mom wouldn't tell me anything."

Lily's insides lurched and she nervously followed Professor McGonagall farther, until they reached the end of the hall, where a three-legged stool stood, and on top of that, was an old, battered-looking hat.

Professor McGonagall ushered the first years into the corner and began speaking again. "Now, wait along here please. I will call you each up in alphabetical order, you will try on the Sorting Hat, and you will be sorted into your Houses."

The hat suddenly opened up its brim and sang a song. After it was done, the hall burst into applause.

Professor McGonagall unrolled her long roll of parchment and began calling up the names of students. Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor, along with another boy with pale yellow hair. At last, it was Lily's turn. She went up and sat on the stool, and put the hat over her head.

"Ah," the small voice said, "a brilliant mind, yes, my dear, you would make an excellent Ravenclaw…but wait! What's this? Right then…you have abundant amounts of courage, my dear, yes—and you will become an important part of the magical world someday along with Mr. Po—but I shall not tell you. You'd be best in GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the Great Hall, and Lily walked, shaking, to the Gryffindor table where Sirius was clapping and whistling.

The sorting went on, until it finally finished. A couple of other people were sorted into Gryffindor—Arabella, James, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Violet Walker, and Jennifer Dean.

"It's finally over," emphasized Sirius, looking hungrily into his golden plate and goblet. "Come on, when's the feast going to begin?"

As Dumbledore called for attention, all eyes were turned to him, and Lily, for the first time, saw the man on her card from the train for the first time. He had a long, silver beard with twinkling blue eyes looking through his spectacles. 

"Let the feast…begin," he said, smiling, and with a casual wave of his hand, piles of food appeared before their eyes.

"Finally!" exclaimed Sirius happily, and began to pile his plate with food: platters of vegetables, chicken, potatoes, roast beef, beans, turkey, other foods, and oddly enough, there was a silver platter of peppermint humbugs on the left corner of the Gryffindor table. Lily avoided those, but filled her plate with everything else and began eating.

"Lily, you aren't eating anything," pointed out Sirius. 

But before Lily could answer, James said haughtily, "Probably still too shocked over the fact that she's a witch."

Lily glared at him, then stuck out her hand. "Best enemies?" she said lightly.

James stared at her as if she were mad. Then he said, just as lightly, "Best enemies…for life."

"If you two break that promise that you'll be enemies for life, then"—Sirius grinned—"you'll have to kiss."

"What?" the two exclaimed. "_Kiss_? Are you out of your _mind_, Sirius Black?"

Arabella stared at the outraged Lily and James, then grinned. "I agree with Sirius."

Lily rounded on her. "Bella! How could you be so inconsiderate? I'm your friend! At least…" she hesitated, "…I think you are…"

"'Course I am," snapped Arabella good-naturedly. "You're the best friend I've ever had. Now"—she grinned—"are you and Jamie going to make up?"

"Not you too," groaned James.

"Excuse me," said a voice, and all three of them jumped. A rather pale boy was speaking, and he looked at the four of them sheepishly.

"I—I was wondering if you'd please pass the marmalade, kindly," he said rather shakily.

"Of course," said James, passing the jar of marmalade to the boy. He had light brown hair and a young, good-natured face that looked rather weary and tired, as if suffering from overwork.

"I'm Remus, by the way," said the boy, as he spread a thick amount of marmalade on his bread, "Remus Lupin."

"I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Arabella Figg."

"Lily Evans."

"She means Lily _Potter_," corrected Sirius with an evil grin on his face.

Lily glared at him. "He means Lily _Evans._ Sirius can be a real joker sometimes." 

Remus nodded, and Lily saw that he was trying to attempt not to burst out laughing. "Hello all. I, well, I'll be seeing you in classes then." He blushed and turned away.

"Hey, wait a minute," said James, smiling warmly at Remus. "Would you like to hang around with me and Sirius? I mean…" he glanced at Sirius, "…we'll create a group! One with the pranksters of Hogwarts! I mean, we can be a legend." He grinned at Remus. "What do you think?"

Remus looked as if he would burst into tears. "I'd love to!" he cried, smiling at James' and Sirius' hopeful faces.

Lily and Arabella exchanged amused glances. "And are we not invited?" asked Arabella mockingly.

James stared at them. "It's an all _boy's_ group," he said proudly. "No girls."

"As if _we_ want to join your stupid group. I was just joking." Arabella grinned wickedly to show no hurt expression on her face.

"Whatever," muttered James.

***

As the days and weeks went by, Lily was thoroughly enjoying herself. Hogwarts was amazing—more amazing than she'd ever dream of. The two girls that shared her dormitory besides Arabella—Violet and Jennifer, soon became two of her other closest friends. James was still her enemy, but Sirius, Remus, and a new boy named Peter became her close friends as well. Lily and James competed constantly in academics. They were both excellent students, but Lily failed to learn Transfiguration, which James succeeded in, while James failed Charms, in which Lily excelled the top scores in. Their friends tried to get them together but it was no use; they just weren't made to be friends. But something about them made nearly everyone at Hogwarts, even the teachers, think that they were a couple. It was more than once when a teacher said "Miss Potter" or "Lily Potter" to poor Lily, making her turn beet red from embarrassment while the rest of the class would laugh. The funny thing was that none of the teachers noticed; they simply glanced up at the class to silence the laughter and continue teaching.

"We know you like James, Lily," said Violet smoothly, as she, Arabella, and Jennifer dragged Lily to the Great Hall for dinner.

"You're _joking_," said Lily, horrified. "I…like James? Are you insane?"

"Lily," Jennifer persisted. "Just admit it."

"I DO NOT LIKE JAMES POTTER!" yelled Lily, causing everyone walking down to the Great Hall to stare at her. A few people sniggered, and the rest ignored them.

"Lily!" Lily turned around and nearly fainted. Severus Snape was running towards her, a grin plastered on his face. Lily exchanged bewildered glances with her friends and they all came to the same conclusion: Snape was probably trying to annoy Lily with further news of her and James as an official couple.

"Yes?" she said coldly.

Snape stopped short and caught his breath. "Look," he said desperately, looking into her eyes, "I know we didn't exactly get a good head start on the train station…" he trailed off. "But I'll try to make it up to you. Friends?" He stuck out his hand. 

Lily looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure you're not sick, Severus? I'm a Gryffindor. You hate Gryffindors." She tried to push some common sense into the greasy-haired boy. 

Before Snape could answer, another voice was shouting angrily towards them. "Severus, what do you think you're doing?" He stopped dead as he caught sight of Lily, Arabella, Violet, and Jennifer. "By gosh, you're talking to girls, Snape! And they're Gryffindors!" He glared nastily at them and turned to Snape again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm—just apologizing to Lily—I mean, Evans here." 

"Why?" The boy demanded.

"Evan," began Snape, "Lily and I went off to a bad start on the train station because of that Potter, so here I'm making it up to her—"

"Oh," spat Rosier. "Look, Severus, let's go down to dinner and we'll talk about this later." He shot Lily one more nasty look and walked down to the Great Hall with Snape trudging along behind him.

"What was that about?" asked Arabella, bewildered. "Snape was apologizing to you? Slytherins do NOT apologize to Gryffindors. Maybe it's James pretending to be Snape with a little help of Polyjuice Potion."

Lily snorted. "The potion for that is in _Moste Potente Potions_, which means that it's in the Restricted Section of the library. I doubt Potter would risk his neck in there for me."

"But he likes you," interjected Violet.

"Are you all right, Violet? Potter hates me. He thinks I'm even worse than Brussels sprouts, and that's saying something."

"He says that, but you know how concealed boys are with feelings. He's probably daydreaming about your children…" 

Jennifer grinned. "Looks like Violet likes James Potter."

Violet suddenly looked horrified as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Me…like James Potter? You're out of your mind, no _way_!"

"Right," said Lily impatiently, annoyed at further discussion of the hated James Potter.

"What's this about me?" said a voice. They all turned around to see James Potter grinning at them. 

"Snape was apologizing to me, and the girls thought that it was probably you pretending to be Snape using Polyjuice Potion. Of course, the idea is absurd, but Slytherins like Snape don't usually go apologizing to Gryffindors like me…"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" interrupted James. "Snape _likes_ you."

Lily accidentally spat out her pumpkin juice. "Are you feeling all right, James? Because Snape happens to hate anything to do with Gryffindor. It's common knowledge that Slytherins and Gryffindors have been rivals for centuries."

"Hey, there's always a first," said James, shrugging. "Oh! There comes Snape right now." He smirked at Lily, then sat beside Sirius, Remus, and Peter who were watching with astonishment as Snape strode over the Gryffindor table.

"What is Snape doing?" hissed Sirius.

"Snape likes Lily," replied James, still grinning.

"What?" the other three chimed in. "Snape likes Lily? He hates all Gryffindors!"

"Well he obviously doesn't hate Evans. I heard him apologizing to her at the entrance to the Great Hall. It's obvious that old Slimy likes that carrot-haired Evans."

"James." Sirius shook his head. "I still don't understand why you hate Lily."

"She's a perfectionist, that's what," snapped James.

"Not really. She's really nice—and yes, very clever too. She also loves pranks just like us."

"Oh?" James' eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah," said Sirius, nodding. "Lily played a nasty joke on Snape and his friends Rosier, Wilkes, and a bunch of other idiot Slytherins. Splattered their Potions essay with purple ink. Since the Slytherins are all too dumb to make the ink vanish, Professor Hurst had to yell at them despite being head of Slytherin House…" He trailed off, looking dreamy. "It was definitely sweet revenge."

"That's stupid," said James impatiently. "Professor Hurst would never take points off Slytherin. He doesn't want his own house to lose the House Championship, so he'll be careful never to lose his temper and take points off, and he's already taken off loads of points off us." He grinned. "The sixth years aren't too happy."

"Neither are the fourth, fifth, or seventh years," agreed Sirius. "Though the third years were impressed with our prank against McGonagall…"

"They weren't too happy when she took off 20 points, though," said James, sighing. "Too bad she isn't like Hurst. Then she wouldn't take off any points from Gryffindor…"

"Haven't you seen her as a cat? I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly!" put in Remus.

"She—she frightens me," stuttered Peter. Then he added, "So does Snape."

"Don't worry, Pete, we won't let Snape bother you," comforted James, putting his arms around the fat little boy. "As for McGonagall, well, I'll try to make her see some good magic in you. She favors me better than Evans"—he smiled smugly—"but she likes Evans better. Thinks she's a sweet angel. Well. We'll see how sweet Lily Evans is when we play a prank on her." He grinned around at all his friends.

"Are you sure?" asked Sirius hesitantly. "I mean, playing pranks is fun, but Lily is our friend."

"She helped me with my Potions homework!" chimed in Peter. "I did an even better job than Snape!"

"But Snape also excels at Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Remus, frowning slightly at Peter. Everyone knew that Remus was highly affronted when Snape did a better show of the knowledge of curses than he himself had.

"Don't worry Remus, you're much better than old Snapie."

"Lily's really nice, though," said Remus. "She helped me when"—he hesitated—"when my mother fell ill. You know…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed, his ears rather red.

"Evans just makes up sympathy," growled James.

Nearby where Lily and her friends sat, Snape was still stammering an apology while they were trying to ward off Snape's oily odor.

"Lily, get rid of him," muttered Arabella from the corner of her mouth. "He's making me sick."

"Yeah, Lily, we want to live a few years longer," gasped Jennifer, breathing through her mouth.

"All right," murmured Lily, and then said loudly to Snape, "Severus, I still don't understand why you're apologizing to me, especially after that prank, but…shouldn't you be getting back to your table?" She nodded coldly to the Slytherin table, where Rosier was shooting daggers at her and her friends.

"Right…" Snape trailed off, finally understanding that Lily didn't want to be friends with a Slytherin and trudged dejectedly to his table.

"I almost feel sorry for him," said Violet, watching Snape's rather rejected face sympathetically.

Lily, Arabella, and Jennifer stared at her. "I'm not," scoffed Lily. "I mean, he's fine now." It was true. With a few swift words and a berate from Rosier, Snape looked perfectly normal again, sneering and spitting at all his Gryffindor enemies.

"I wonder why the git apologized to you, Lils," said Bella.

"Goodness, don't you ever listen to me?" It was James. "Snape likes you, Evans. It's so obvious, but you wouldn't even notice if it danced in front of you, naked."

"Go away, Potter," snapped Lily. "I don't want to throw up in account of you after that confrontation with Slimy."

"Yeah, James, don't bully Lily," said Violet angrily. They all fell silent in surprise. Violet was usually quiet and sympathetic to everyone, even Slytherins, in their times of need. "She hasn't done anything to you!"

"Shove off Walker, this is none of your business," snapped James.

"James Potter!" cried Lily, her eyes sparkling malevolently down at him. "Don't you dare insult my friend. Apologize!"

"No," said James defiantly, stalking off to where his friends sat. Lily sat back down, and picked up her fork, shaking.

"That James Potter," she declared, "I'll get him one of these days."

For once, her friend's didn't pair Lily up with James again, partly after he insulted Violet. The four of them avoided James and even his friends, which made Remus, Sirius, and Peter very sore. They bombarded James one night.

"C'mon James, let's make it up to Lily and her friends," pleaded Sirius.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"_No_!"

"Will you two please shut up!" came a yell from the sixth year boys' dormitory. James and Sirius grinned, but "shut up" immediately.

"You know James, we all know you love Lily," whispered Sirius into James' ear as they went up to the boys' dormitory together. "You're just too stubborn to see it. Don't worry. You'll realize it one day."

James had never forgotten those words Sirius had whispered that night for the rest of his life. It haunted him tirelessly, but nevertheless he continued on with life. But those words came haunting back to him sometimes in his dreams, along with a certain beautiful red-haired girl with sparkling green eyes and a dazzling smile.

"_You know James, we all know you love Lily. You're just too stubborn to see it. Don't worry. You'll realize it one day. Now is not the time yet."_

***

"Go Gryffindor! Go, go, go!" screamed Lily, as she, Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet bounced on their seats, watching scarlet and green blurs zoom across the Quidditch field. 

It was Gryffindor against Slytherin, the first match of the season. Lily, who was plastered with scarlet rosettes and flags with the Gryffindor lion on it, was told to keep quiet by James Potter, who sat in the row in front.

"You're shouting too, you know," she said matter-of-factly, then going back to screaming for a Gryffindor victory.

"You know Lily, James has a point," said Jennifer, covering up her ears and Lily gasped loudly when Kenneth Jordan, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, was attacked.

"How dare those Slytherins!" she cried, jumping up and down in her seat. "I call a penalty for Gryffindor!"

"Oh, hush up Lily, Madam Hooch already did that," snapped James.

"Oh, it's not Evans now, is it?" she teased.

"Wha—oh, I was just so annoyed with you that I had to shock you first, Evans," said James smoothly. Then he said loudly to Remus, "You know, Remus, I have to ask Deanna Jackson to accompany me to a stroll to a lake." He winked at Remus and looked back at Lily, but became disappointed, as she hadn't heard a single word she said.

Meanwhile, Sirius and Professor McGonagall were having an argument, as Sirius was doing the commentary.

"At least keep the language decent," she snapped. "I don't want to know such shame from my own House."

"But Professor," said Sirius, "those dirty, no good Slytherins—"

"I said, no indecency in language," said McGonagall, and there was a tone of finality in her voice that even Sirius understood not to vex.

"And Gryffindor wins! George Brach catches the Snitch!" The Gryffindor end exploded with cheers, while the Slytherins' faces were fixed into murderous glares.

"That was the best Quidditch game I've ever seen," remarked Lily as they headed off towards the castle. "We have a really good team."

"The best," said Jennifer proudly.

"But too bad that I'm not any good at Quidditch," continued Lily sadly. "I can barely sit on my broomstick."

"Don't worry Lils, we're not exactly professionals either," said Arabella, trying to cheer up her best friend. "It's Halloween tomorrow! Don't look so gloomy."

"Oh! Right." They entered the castle in high spirits, and gobbled down lunch considerably fast.

"What do we have next?" asked Violet as they slung their heavy bags over their shoulders and exited the Great Hall.

"Potions," sighed Lily, and all four of them groaned. Potions was a dreaded subject, since Professor Hurst, the Potions master, was Head of Slytherin House and generally hated Gryffindors, especially Lily and James.

They entered the dungeons in low spirits, while James and his friends were huddled together at their usual table discussing something serious, for a change.

"Professor Hurst will blow up," whispered James gleefully. "And he'll think it's Evans and her fan club's fault."

Hearing her name mentioned, Lily strode swiftly to their table and tapped James on the shoulder. "What about me, Potter?" she asked sweetly.

James glared at her. "None of your business."

"I hear you're playing a prank on me, Potter," she said coldly. "Because of you are, I'll be sure to make Professor Hurst think it was definitely your doing." 

"Oh, will you?" said James calmly. "I'm James Potter, one of the ringleaders of the Marauders." He proudly pointed at his chest, and then at Sirius. "He's the other ringleader." 

"Really?" she said, evidently not paying attention to one word he was saying. "Well, Potter, if you put it this way, then maybe a Truth Potion will work." She took a crystal bottle out of her robes and placed it in front of James. "If you don't watch it Potter, I may let it slip into your pumpkin juice or food…" She made a gesture as if to pour the potion out. "Then Professor Hurst will find out the truth." She smirked slightly, then went off to her friends, whispering something. The four of them giggled.

James looked sore. "Evans wouldn't dare do anything of the sort."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that," said Sirius seriously. "Lily's one brilliant witch, you know. She's probably already capable of creating the Patronus Charm."

"I highly doubt that."

In the end of class, James never tried to pull the prank he was about too, which was to set a Dungbomb in the middle of Hurst's teaching, with Lily's name written on it. Lily smirked, self-satisfied, as the Gryffindors set off to Gryffindor Tower.

She took the crystal bottle out of her robe pockets and placed it in front of James' face. "You know what's in this bottle, Potter?"

He glared at her. "I thought you said it was a Truth Potion."

Lily suddenly started laughing her head off. "You believed me, Potter? You actually believed me?" She was positively howling now. "You can be so thick sometimes! It's just plain water, which I placed a charm on to make it look like a Truth Potion. We don't even learn how to make the potion until our fourth year!" Then she ran off to join her friends, tears leaking down her cheeks.

James suddenly halted, frozen. That Evans! How dare she trick him out of his cleverest prank! He clenched his fists, glaring at Evans with death-ray eyes.

"Whoa! Why are you shooting daggers at Lily?" asked Sirius, staring at his friend and wondering vaguely if he had lost his mind.

James explained how Lily tricked him, and Sirius grinned. "Told you, didn't I? That Evans is one hell of genius, tricking the famous ringleader of the Marauders, James Potter." Then he added, after seeing James' glare, "'Course, I'm not saying you're gullible…"

"I know you are, Sirius," said James. "And I still remember what you said."

"About what?" asked Sirius, confused.

"It's been haunting me." He repeated what Sirius had said before, word for word. Sirius stared at him.  


"I didn't mean for you to get haunted."

"Well…" he shrugged. "It's all right. Now let's get down to the common room and finish that essay of Hurst's." He grimaced. "I'll get back at Evans if it's the last thing I do."

And so James plotted his plan to get back at Lily Evans.


	2. First Year: Part Two

First Year – Part Two

"James Potter, come down here this instant and set me right!" came a screech from the first year girl's dormitory, which could be heard from all across Gryffindor Tower.

James Potter, who was currently daydreaming up more plans to make Lily Evans' life at Hogwarts miserable, chuckled softly to himself as he heard Lily scream at him.

Sirius, his best friend, frowned slightly. "Maybe you should give Lily a break, James," he said seriously.

"No way! Torturing Evans is way too fun to give up. Besides, she's the one who tricked me into thinking that small bottle of water was a Truth Potion! I swear that I'd get her after that."

Remus smiled and said, "Well, James, the teachers are still calling you 'Lily and James Potter'. The name goes quite smoothly."

James colored. "I told you, the teachers are howling mad. McGonagall obviously wants revenge of some sort, and she's being nice to Snape!" All three boys shivered, and Peter, who was still sleeping, stirred awake.

"Who screamed?" he asked wearily, sitting up. 

"You heard Evans," informed James, grinning at the little boy. "She wake you up? That gives me another reason to kill her."

"Not exactly," said Peter, frowning. "I thought I heard her voice—and yours—and she was singing a lullaby to a baby."

Before anyone could say another word, Sirius gleefully cried, "A ha! I told you Jamie-boy, that you and Lily were going to get married and have a kid! Didn't I?"

James blinked. "Peter," he said, ignoring Sirius and turning to the sleepy boy, "did this dream seem—real?"

"I think so," replied Peter. "I mean, I don't know why I dreamt it, but I saw myself cowering as two men tried to kill me, but this boy—he stopped them. I was yelling, 'Remus, Sirius, have mercy, I never meant to betray Lily and James', and the boy saved me. He looked exactly like you, James, but his eyes were like Lily's—they were green." He shook his head. "I don't know what kind of dream it was, but—it seemed so real."

There was silence all around the dormitory. Peter felt frightened, Remus was thoughtful, Sirius was confused, and James was bewildered at the dream. Peter…betrays him and Lily? What madness was this?

Then the silence was shattered, again by Lily's voice.

"That James Potter!" she was yelling. "I'll get him one day! And the teachers call me 'Lily Potter'. Completely mad!"

"Lily," said Violet's voice. "Calm down. We'll all help you get revenge from James Potter. Don't worry, and come down and have some breakfast."

The girl's dormitory door burst open, and Lily was flying out of it. She stormed right into the boy's dormitory, despite her friends' protests, and started to scream right in front of James' face.

"James Potter, you idiot, look at my hair!" she screeched.

It was a very funny sight indeed. Lily's hair, instead of its redness, it was dark brown and shining like gold. It would have looked very nice indeed, but it clashed horribly with Lily's iris-like delicate complexion. Her green eyes were sparkling malevolently.

"Change it back!" she demanded.

"Not unless I get a kiss," said James, pouting. The effects of these simple words were astounding. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all rolled over on their beds, laughing, while Lily slapped James with all the strength she could muster. That sent the three boys laughing even harder, while Lily looked as if she were going to cry.

"If I kiss you," she said, shaking with anger. "Will you turn my hair red again?"

"Depends," replied James smugly, "but most likely."

Lily, now blushing beet red, kissed James gently on the lips, which sent Sirius, Remus, and Peter into hysterics again. James, flushed with pleasure, waved his wand, and Lily's hair turned red again.

"My God, Lily, were you that desperate?" asked Sirius, still chortling.

"Yes," huffed Lily, and stalked away, still red, back to her dormitory. Shouts of laughter could be heard a few seconds later, and Violet, Arabella, Jennifer, and Lily burst out of their dormitory and into the Great Hall for breakfast. Lily was still red from rage, but the rest of the girls were laughing.

"Hello Lily," came an oily voice from behind them. Severus Snape was hurrying down from the steps of his dungeon common room, beaming.

"Severus," said Lily, nodding curtly. 

Snape's smile faded a little at Lily's cool manner towards him, but he smiled pleasantly at the four girls. "So, why the laughing faces? Pleasant dreams?"

"Lily just kissed James!" gasped Arabella, unable to conceal the information any longer. "Oh, it was hilarious!"

It was amazing how someone could change moods so fast. Snape's face twisted in anger, and he glared coldly at all of them with his empty black eyes. "Did you?" he asked, directing his question to Lily.

"Well, Potter changed my hair into dark brown," said Lily carefully, "so I was mad. Then, for some particular reason, he said he'd turn it back if I kissed him. And I was not to go into the Great Hall looking like a hag, so"—Lily was now blushing to the roots of her hair—"I kissed him."

Snape frowned. "Potter likes you then?" he asked softly. "I mean, why would he have asked you otherwise?"

"Oh, probably to embarrass me in front of all my friends and _his_ friends," replied Lily bitterly.

Snape, sensing Lily's bitter tone, said brightly, "Lily, would you—well—care to accompany me to—" He was interrupted by James, along with his friends, talking loudly on their way to the Great Hall.

"My God, Jamie-boy, are you in love?" crowed Sirius in delight. 

"Nah, he just wanted to embarrass Lily in front of us," said Remus sympathetically.

"You know, Moony, I sometimes think you're a mind-reader," said James.

"Oh no, look, there's trouble," murmured Peter, distracted, as he saw Snape with Lily and her friends.

"Snape," said James coldly, as they approached the girls. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard Lily kissed you here," replied Snape, his tone equally cold. "I suppose you want Lily? Well, too bad, she's mine." The words went out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Everyone stood there, stunned for a minute, but they started laughing the next minute.

"Oh, Snape that was a good one!" cried Sirius, slapping his knee. "Lily—_yours_?" He started laughing again.

Lily smiled wryly, but she had a temptation to burst out laughing like Sirius had done. "Since when have I been _yours_, Severus?" she asked coolly. "I don't remember _belonging_ to anyone like I'm a piece of property."

Snape was beet red. "Well, what I meant Lily, was that—" He trailed off, looking quite embarrassed, but controlled himself and strolled over to his friends.

"What have you been doing?" they heard Rosier demand.

"Torturing Potter and his fan club," came Snape's oily voice.

"Good, good. Severus, we must discuss your—er—feelings for the Evans girl…" Their voices trailed off, as James, Lily, and their friends sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Don't worry, Lily, we won't tell what happened," said Violet sincerely, as she spread butter over her bread.

"Oh, won't we?" teased Sirius. 

"Sirius," warned Violet in a dangerous voice.

"Oh, all right," said Sirius in a would-be disappointed voice. Then he added gleefully, "Still, I can't believe old Snape thought that you were his, Lily! Oh, it would have been a perfect opportunity for blackmail if we didn't have a camera."

"I've got one in our dorm," said Jennifer suddenly. Then her eyes glinted mischievously.

"Oh, I have an idea! Lily can pretend to seduce Snape and make him believe that she loves him, or something. _Then_ we can take a picture and blackmail old Snape! What do you all think?"

"Jen, you're a genius!" breathed Violet. "What do you boys think?"

"Ingenious!" the four boys chorused.

"Hey, no one asked for my opinion!" demanded Lily.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Lily, we don't need your opinion," snapped Violet good-naturedly.

"What? Why not?"

"Because we know you'd say no."

"Fine, I'll be considering, but as long as I don't have to kiss Snape. Yuck." She made a face.

"Of course you have to kiss Snape," said Jennifer practically. "That's part of seduction, right? Oh, and maybe you could be really extreme and we can lock you two into a room with a bed all night…" She grinned wickedly.

"I can't imagine a baby who looks like Snape with green eyes," put in Sirius.

"Ugh! You two are so disgusting! Me, sleep with Snape? You have got to be JOKING!" Lily shook her head furiously.

"We are, Lils," reassured Violet, laughing. "We just wanted to pull your leg, that's all. You think we'd make you kiss Snape and sleep in bed with him? That's evil beyond Slytherin-evil."

"We also wanted to make Jamie jealous, too," added Sirius.

"Why would I be jealous?" asked James.

"'Cause you love Lily too much."

"Sirius, you little—"

"Now what would eight Gryffindors such as yourselves be saying that must be loud enough to scream the Great Hall down?"

They all turned around to see Professor Hurst sneering at them. No one spoke.

"Dear, dear, Evans, I expected better from you." He tutted scoldingly, then returned to his seat at the High Table.

"Miserable bat," muttered Sirius, as he shoved sausages into his mouth.

***

Lily and James were in Dumbledore's office. McGonagall, for some particular reason, had sent them there, and the two puzzled Gryffindors settled down and looked at all the strange objects in the office. A phoenix was fluttering its golden plumage, looking at them with beady eyes.

"Why were we sent here?" said James, cursing angrily.

Lily tutted loudly. "Language, Potter. This is the headmaster's office."

"Hey—what's that?" He pointed to a crystal ball on Dumbledore's desk.

They scurried over and peered inside. It was a crystal ball, but it didn't look like the ones they saw in the pictures of thick books in Flourish and Blotts, and unlike regular crystal balls, it wasn't foggy. Instead, it was clear, and pictures were moving vividly.

As they peered closer, pictures began to form. A girl, who looked like an older version of Lily, was running through a meadow. A handsome man much like an older James Potter was chasing after her, laughing. Then they drew in for a kiss, which went on for quite some time. The pictures blurred again, and formed a new one. An older version of the girl before was bending over a baby. It had jet-black hair that stuck in all directions, and bright green eyes. Then the man bent over the baby and the couple began to laugh. Then this picture disappeared as well, and a new one appeared. A boy, who looked much like James, except for the eyes, was flying on a broomstick, obviously pleased about something. Another boy and a girl were standing on what looked like the Quidditch field, cheering on the boy in the air. The boy on the ground had bright red hair, and the girl standing next to him had bushy brown hair. All three of them started laughing, having a good time. Then the picture dissolved together, and the crystal ball went blank.

"What was that?" said James aloud.

"Looks like a crystal ball," said Lily. "Maybe it shows the future."

"Yeah, me and you kissing," said James sarcastically. "I suppose that will happen in the future."

"Must be our nightmares, then," snapped Lily.

"I wonder who that boy was, though," said James thoughtfully. "You know, the one on the broomstick. He looked a lot like me, but he wasn't me, though. His eyes are green, like yours, and he had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead."

"And the boy and girl standing weren't familiar, either," put in Lily. "Maybe they're just people that are coming to Hogwarts later on."

"So what does that concern us for?"

"I don't know! You think I'm a Seer or something?"

Before the two could say another word, however, Dumbledore had just entered his office. He smiled at Lily and James, and gestured them to sit down.

"Now, why have you been sent here?" he asked, still smiling.

"Er—" The two looked at each other and James admitted, "We honestly don't know. Professor McGonagall just told us to wait here for you, sir."

"I see." He looked between the nervous kids, and glanced over to where the crystal ball stood. "I think I know what it's about."

He went over and tapped the ball lightly with his wand, and it began to glow. "You see, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans. This ball is no crystal ball. It tells the future to anyone who looks at it, even people who are not destined to be Seers. It is very rare, and—let me ask you something. What did you two see when you looked through it?"

Lily hesitated. "Well," she began, "we first saw older versions of ourselves—er—kissing." She blushed furiously. "Then I saw my older version holding a baby, with James bending over it, laughing. Then—I saw a boy that looked like James, except he had green eyes like mine and a scar on his forehead. He was on a broomstick, and he and the red-head boy and brown-hair girl below him were laughing together." She frowned. "I don't know what it has to do with me."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon glasses. "Ah, Miss Evans. It is because that it showed the future—your destiny. The boy on the broomstick—he is your son. And he is James' son as well. But I cannot tell you anymore than this. You'll have to find out for yourselves." He ushered them gently out of his office. "Now, why don't you head off to dinner while I examine this ball more."

Still puzzled, Lily and James went out of Dumbledore's office, when James broke into a tirade.

"I'm marrying _you_? And we have a son together? Am I mad?" 

"Hey, I'm confused too," snapped Lily. 

"Obviously. But we'd better not mention this to anyone, Sirius will never let me hear the end of it."

"Deal," agreed Lily.

Their friends were rushing towards them, grins plastered on their faces. "What was that about?" asked Sirius loudly. "Did Dumbledore yell at you or something."

Lily and James exchanged nervous glances. "Er—McGonagall made some sort of mistake," lied Lily. "Dumbledore had no idea what we were doing in his office."

"Right." You could tell that they didn't believe a single word Lily had said.

"So Lily," began Arabella, "did you make up with James?"

"No!" chorused the two enemies.

The rest all sighed. "So much for that," muttered Sirius.

"Hey, I tried," argued Arabella.

"I wasn't blaming you, Bells. Those two are just so stubborn sometimes!"

"Hey, it's not like we can't hear you," stated Lily. "We're still here you know."

"I _know_," said Sirius, irritated. "Just leave me alone." He waved his hand casually and left for Gryffindor Tower.

"What's eating him?" wondered Jennifer as they climbed through the portrait hole. 

"Maybe it's a boy thing," suggested Violet.

"Who knows."

As the four girls scrambled into their dormitory, Arabella stopped. "I think I'll go see Sirius," she said, ignoring the whistles that followed.

"Aww, I didn't know you liked Sirius, Bella. Why didn't you _tell_ us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Arabella loftily.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just tell us if any saliva is exchanged between you and dog boy."

They all giggled, leaving Arabella stomping off to the boys' dormitory. Minutes later, James entered the girls' dormitory to find three girls giggling furiously.

"What do you think is happening?" asked Lily excitedly.

"They're probably having a kissing session," said Jennifer disgustedly.

"How romantic," said Violet dreamily.

James cleared his throat, and the girls turned around.

"What are you doing here, Potter? I didn't remember inviting you."

"I didn't think I needed an invitation," said James dryly. "Though I do think you would want news of how my best friend is doing with your best friend."

Lily's eyes sparkled. "All right then. I'll be civil to you, and you can tell us what's happening."

James grinned. "As Jennifer predicted, they _are_ currently kissing"—he grinned at Lily's delighted face, Jennifer's disgusted one, and Violet's dreamy one—"but it took quite a lot of convincing." He explained the whole story, and Violet sighed dramatically.

"That's so romantic," she sighed. "It's just like it's out of a fairy tale!"

"Violet, _please_," scolded Jennifer. Then she added, "We wouldn't want Lily and James to be next."

"Not this again," groaned Lily. "I told you guys, I hate Potter."

"Then you could marry Snape—"

"Ugh, what do you take me for? I'm not marrying that slimy, greasy hairball git!"

"You're right, Lily Potter sounds much better," said Jennifer, trying not to laugh.

"Jennifer Dean, you've got some nerve—"

"I'll be leaving now," said James loudly. He turned to go, but then the door burst open and Arabella walked in with a dazed expression on her face.

"Ah, finally done, are you?" he said teasingly, watching Arabella's face twist in fury and horror. "Don't worry, the girls already know." He left without another word.

"You guys know?" asked Arabella, rather shakily. 

"'Course we know, Lily did a bit of coaxing," said Jennifer, grinning. "So…give us the details! Potter would never tell the more _juicy_ parts to us."

"Tomorrow," promised Arabella, trying not to laugh. "Guys—I think I'm in love."

"At age eleven?" questioned Violet, raising her eyebrows. "I wouldn't know, but it's just a minor crush."

"Yeah, whatever."

***

The snow was finally melting, and spring was in the air, which meant another Quidditch match was approaching. James and Sirius, though they desperately wanted to get on the team, finally stopped pestering the Gryffindor captain and decided to try out next year. Lily was excited and nervous as well. It would be Gryffindor against Ravenclaw, the second match of the season.

She was quite nasty to Snape as well. Though it wasn't against Slytherin House this time, Severus had been trying to keep the team players out of action along with his Slytherin gang, causing Lily to slap him harshly one day in the corridors. Sirius had howled with laughter after that, and Snape never taunted any of the Gryffindors in front of her after the incident.

Of course, Lily and James continued to pull pranks on each other. Lily, furious at James for turning her hair into brown, had performed a little charm to make Deanna Jackson, the girl James always mooned about to make Lily jealous, to fall in love with James for a day. This had caused James into one of the worst days of his life, having the second year Gryffindor girl follow him around like a puppy. He had gotten his revenge, however, by declaring to the whole Great Hall that Lily liked Snape, performing charms that sent shooting stars into the bewitched night sky. Lily, who was already fuming by then, had stood up and declared that James Potter was a liar and that she hated Snape as well as all Slytherins, then storming out of the Great Hall amid the shouts of laughter heard afterwards.

On this particular day, however, Lily seemed nervous. Her friends had demanded what was wrong, but she wouldn't say.

"Fine!" she snapped, after the fifth time they asked her. "The exams are in three months, what if I don't pass?"

Violet burst into laughter. "Are you still worrying about that, Lils? Lily, they're ages away! If James Potter isn't worried, then you shouldn't be, since you're much cleverer than he is."

"Oh, I suppose," sighed Lily, but she was in a lighter mood after that.

Meanwhile, James was complaining in the boys' dormitory about Deanna.

"If Evans hadn't put that charm on her, then she wouldn't be following me around!" he whined.

Sirius, who was sick of James' complaints, had said, "Oh, come on Jamie-boy, it's not like Jackson's the only girl that's fighting over you. A group of Ravenclaw girls had a catfight in the corridors because they were arguing if you liked them or not, and one of them ended up in the hospital wing with a bloody nose." He shook his head. "Honestly, James, get yourself a girl and settle down."

"I don't even _like_ girls!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, sure Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet are my friends—_sort of_, but that Evans." He shuddered.

"Lily's nice," cut in Remus, who was interested in where this conversation was going. "You should be friends with her, James, she has a side to her that you probably never expected."

"She actually studies?" suggested James.

"_No._ She's actually really funny, and can really help you in your times of trouble. Really, Lily makes me laugh all the time. You guys should get together as friends, James, or else you'll be missing a lot of great times."
    
    "I couldn't have said it better myself," agreed Sirius.

James turned to Peter, and the little boy nodded, showing his assent, which made him groan loudly.

"So how come Evans hates me so much?" he demanded of his friends.

The three boys looked at each other. Finally Remus said in his gentle voice, "Because, James, you hate her. If you two made up, I'm sure Lily wouldn't hate you so much."

James laughed at the irony of this statement. Lily had once threatened to tear him apart from limb to limb if he embarrassed her again. Soon their dormitory door opened and Lily walked in, grinning. James groaned again. She must be planning a new prank, he thought to himself.

"Hey Lily," greeted Sirius, grinning at the redhead appreciatively. James scowled.

"What do you want, Evans?" he asked.

"I just wanted to see my friends, Jamie," replied Lily, pouting. "Is that such a crime?" She shot him a smile, which made him relax a bit.

"See Potter, I'm not so bad," she said, nodding and smirking at the black-haired boy.

"Right." James crawled onto his bed and drew the curtains so that everything was hidden from view.

"You know, Potter isn't so bad," remarked Lily.

James couldn't believe his ears. Had Evans gone _mad_?

"Really?" he heard Sirius' voice say.

"Yep. Pretty cute, actually. I can actually imagine why those silly girls chase after him like wolves."

James, much to his horror, found himself grinning like a Cheshire cat. Oh, now Evans was humoring Sirius.

"You know, Lily, James can hear you," said Remus.

"I know," he heard Lily say. "I'm just going to see what Potter's reaction to this is –"

James panicked. What if Lily saw him listening through his curtains intently? He quickly lay in bed and pulled out a battered old copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and began reading. Soon Lily pulled the curtains back, and disappointingly, James was reading, not paying any attention to their conversation. Or so she thought.

"Oh, hi Evans," said James, looking up from his book and speaking nonchalantly.

"Potter," she said, smirking. "Nice book?"

"Oh yeah," he replied quickly. "Very, um…interesting read."

"Is that why you're reading it upside down?" she asked, smiling sweetly. James blushed. So this was why she was grinning.

"I was experimenting," he said grumpily.

"Sure you were," said Lily, still grinning.

"I was," said James, aggravated.

"Do you normally read books upside-down? I didn't know even wizards were capable of that."

"Oh, well—I'm special," said James proudly.

Lily snorted. "Yeah, well, I'd better get back to my dormitory. I have to put some common sense into Violet, since she secretly 'likes' you. Ridiculous!"

"You're just jealous," said James smugly, sounding oddly like a five-year-old.

Lily snorted. "Of _what_?"

James scratched his head before answer. "Er—I forgot."

Lily laughed.

***

That night, she had the strangest dream. 

__

Lily was softly humming to a baby, which she recognized to be the same baby that she and James were laughing over in Dumbledore's crystal ball. An older version of James was standing next to her, his arms around hers, and he was whispering to a tear-streaked Lily. They were both whispering and comforting the crying bundle in Lily's arms, and there was a loud bang that shattered the silence. Then James' voice began to panic.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off…" Then he stumbled into another room while Lily rushed to the kitchen.

There was a high-pitched cackle, and then silence. All of a sudden, a scream echoed through the night, and there was a thump as something heavy hit the floor. Lily could only guess that her husband was dead.

Then the cloaked figure who had killed James advanced towards her. He was ready to attack, to kill, as he held up his wand.

Then Lily's voice rang out. "Please, not Harry, have mercy…"

"Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside now…"

"Please, I'll do anything, kill me, kill me instead…"

Then Lily was screaming like she had never screamed before, and fell to the floor with a dull thump. The cloaked figure had advanced towards the baby boy named Harry, but could not kill him. He let out a piercing scream, there was a blinding flash of light, and an eerie silence afterwards. The baby boy was still alive and fast asleep.

Lily woke up with a start, sweat pouring down her face. Now she understood what Dumbledore had said. She and James were to die, but her son—Harry, he was to live. But what did this all mean?

"Lily?" She heard a muffled voice, and Arabella was slipping on her school robes, looking exhausted. "Was that you screaming?"

"I screamed?" asked Lily, confused. Arabella nodded, and Jennifer and Violet began to stir awake, too.

"What did you dream about?"

"I dreamed—I dreamed about this…wizard. He came to my house and he—he killed James. Then he killed me, but only because I wouldn't let him kill a baby boy. But he couldn't kill the baby boy, who was probably my son."

There was a nasty silence after her story. Arabella, Violet, and Jennifer were too stunned to speak. Then their dormitory door opened and James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter filed in, looking as tired as the girls. Sirius looked grumpy, while Remus and Peter were yawning. James, however, was wide-awake with round eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Arabella curiously.

"Well," said Sirius, his voice full of agitation, "I was sleeping soundly, when James here started yelling like a maniac. This woke me up out of my dreams, and then we heard one of _your_ scream. So we came here to investigate."

"Lily said something about a wizard coming to kill James and herself, but he couldn't kill her son," said Violet, frowning. 

"That's what I dreamed about," said James, looking terrified.

Lily choked back a sob, and Bella put her arm around her best friend. "Don't worry, Lil, it's all right…" She glared at the boys. "What do you think you're doing, scaring Lily like this? Now, either we all send James to an insane asylum or…"

"Hey, _your_ friend dreamt the same thing!" pointed out James angrily. "I'm not the only one who's insane!"

"Lily's not insane!" screeched Arabella.

"What in heavens is going on here?" They slowly turned around, only to see Professor McGonagall turn up in a flowered nightgown and holding a lit up wand. She was frowning.

"Boys!" she cried. "What do you think you're doing in a girls' dormitory? Potter, Black, you two should have known better!"

The bowed their heads. Then Lily said, "Please, Professor, J-James and I, we had a bad dream and the boys came here to see w-what was wrong." Her voice was shaky.

McGonagall looked astonished. Then she said swiftly, "Well, you all get on back to bed. Potter, Miss Evans, I would like a word with you two." She marched out of the portrait hole and near the stone gargoyle with James and Lily at her heals.

"Sherbet Lemon," she barked, and the stone gargoyle jumped to life and sprang aside. She marched into the office and Professor Dumbledore was hurrying out of the dark in his robes, looking concerned.

"Minerva," he said, frowning. "What is this?"

Professor McGonagall nodded her head to Lily and James. "Those two—they just had a dream about you-know-what."

Dumbledore nodded, relaxing. "Very well, Minerva. You may return to bed now. I will speak to them." 

When McGonagall left, Dumbledore turned to the two. "I want you to tell me exactly what your dreams were about," he said, in a gentle, but firm voice.

Lily and James told the headmaster exactly what they dreamt about, and Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I knew you would dream this sooner or later," he said, smiling at their stunned faces. "You two have a long destiny together and will change the course of the world. Of course, you probably think it's perfectly ridiculous right now, seeing how much you—er—rather loathe each other. But time will come when you will understand what the right thing to do is. Now"—he glanced at the watch on his wrist—"I think it is time for you two to return to bed. And please do not mention what I have told you to _anyone._ It's dangerous to share secrets these days." 

They both nodded and left the office, whispering to each other. 

"What did Dumbledore mean, 'change the course of the word'? Dad must've known something like this would happen, that's why he told me to be nice to you in the letter."

"Letter?"

"Yeah…he sent me one just before Christmas yelling at me and telling me to be nice to 'the Evans girl'. I _tried_, but you're obviously not easy to get along with."

"There's no point of trying if it's impossible," snapped Lily.

James was amazed. "Still—it's pretty bad to disobey my dad. He can be powerfully mad when…hey, who's that?"

There was a shadow moving along the walls, and Snape came out, very red in the face.

"Oh, hello," he muttered, carefully not meeting their eyes. "I was—er—taking a stroll…"

"In the middle of the night?" interrupted James. "Really, Severus, you out of all people to break school rules—" He tutted the way Lily would when someone broke a school rule.

"I—" Snape now looked extremely uncomfortable. "_You're_ out of bed," he said instead.

"The headmaster wanted to see us," replied Lily hardly. She was rather cool to Snape after the match against Ravenclaw.

"Oh, well, that—that's different, then," stumbled Snape. "W-well, I m-must be off." He ran off, not to another corridor, but to the direction of where the Slytherin common room was.

"I took care of him," said James proudly. Lily scowled.

"I helped!"

"Yeah, well, I did most of the work."

"Arrogant pig."

"Withering flower."

"Daft—" began Lily, but her eyes filled with tears. "I am _not_ a withering flower!"

"Well, I'm not an arrogant pig and a daft whatever-you-were-going-to-say!"

"Yes, well, a withering flower—" She suddenly ran off to Gryffindor Tower, sobbing. James halted. What had he said wrong?

By the time he got into the common room, all three of Lily's friends were glaring at him menacingly, their arms around a crying Lily. When he saw his friends, they were also staring at him coldly and shaking their heads.

"Why is everyone mad?" he asked wonderingly, strolling over to where Sirius, Remus, and Peter stood.

"You called Lily a withering flower," said Remus quietly, not looking at James. 

"So? She called me an arrogant pig!"

"Yes, James." It was Sirius speaking, and he was looking serious, for a change. "You know how strong Lily is. A withering flower would indicate that she was weak and cannot face the world. And you know how that's not true. Lily's stronger than all of us, and can go through many hardships."

James' heart sank and he suddenly felt terrible. "Well, I didn't mean…what I meant was…" He trailed off, looking away.

Remus patted his shoulder. "I know you didn't mean any harm when you said it, James, but next time, be careful of what you say to Lily. She's one girl you shouldn't mess with."

James gave his friend small smile. "You can say that again. I've had too much experience to mess around with her."

Sirius laughed and Remus chuckled. "You're right about that, Jamie!"

Then James walked over to where Lily was still crying. But before he could say one word, she rushed up to the girls' dormitory, tears coursing on her cheeks.

"You should go after her and apologize," said Violet quietly, watching her friend disappear. "That was a really mean thing you said, James."

"I know," said James, his head bowed. "I—I never meant any harm…"

"Of course you didn't," said Jennifer swiftly. "Lily's just a bit stubborn, but she'll get over it. Just watch your mouth next time, sonny." She grinned and Arabella stepped forward.

"I'm not mad," she reassured. "But I'll be happy again if you'd apologize to my best friend."

"I will," he promised, and rushed up to the girls' dormitory. Then the girls started to grin at each other excitedly.

"D'you think they'll kiss and make up?" whispered Violet.

Arabella shook her head. "Nah, I know Lily too well, she and James will still stay enemies after James apologizes. But they'll become friends later, for sure."

"It happens when both people are as stubborn as mules," agreed Jennifer.

Back in the girl's dorm room, James was apologizing endlessly to Lily.

"Look, Lily, I'm not forcing you to be friends with me, but I really want you to forgive me for calling you a withering flower. I was really mad at that time, and I wasn't thinking properly and…well…" Seeing that Lily was looking away and not speaking, he tried again.

"Lily, I think you're beautiful. I've thought that ever since we first met at King's Cross and, well, I've never told anyone. I know that Sirius would tease me to no end, and your friends would probably say 'we knew it'. So—I've kept it to myself. But now I'm telling it to you, and…can you please not tell anyone that I've said it?" 

Lily turned around, and James was astonished to see a smile plastered on her face. "Sure James. You know, you're not such a bad guy after all. When I first met you, I thought that you were the worst thing since rules, but I guess I was wrong and Remus was right. There is more to you than I've ever imagined. But we're still enemies, right?"

Lily grinned mischievously. "Right. Much to our friends' disappointments of course."

"Naturally."

"So…let's go down to the common room."

They marched down to the common room again, where their friends were waiting eagerly. 

"Did you make up?" asked Arabella, though she knew what the answer would be.

"Nope," they both replied.

"And you two would have made such a cute couple," sighed Sirius, pretending to be disappointed.

James laughed. "Come on, Sirius, we know you don't want us to be friends. When we play pranks on each other again, you'll have the pleasure of egging us both on."

"Jamie-boy, sometimes I think that you can read minds."

"Funny thing really—I was thinking that Remus can."

They all laughed. Then James went over to Lily and said, "Enemies?"

"Enemies…for now," said Lily, hiding a smile.

"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius suddenly. "You didn't say, 'Enemies forever'!"

"That's right, Sirius," explained Lily, smiling. "Because James and I know we won't be enemies forever."


	3. First Year: Part Three

Year One – Part Three

Summer was creeping onto the school grounds. It was just one of those days where maybe you and a friend could go out onto the grounds and stroll near a lake, playing a casual game of chess and drinking pints of cold pumpkin juice. However, exams were drawing nearer as well as the Quidditch Final, which the whole school waited for with anticipation.

Lily was probably just as nervous about the Quidditch Final as the Gryffindor Team itself was. She gave them words of comfort and developed a liking for the team's Seeker, much to James' disgust. Snape, meanwhile, was as cruel and nasty as a person could go. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin and the tension between the two teams and their houses were at breaking point and there were more frequent visits to the hospital wing that month. Lily herself had almost gotten into a catfight with Narcissa Fitz, a rather pretty Slytherin girl who was smitten with Lucius Malfoy.

"Oh, that Narcissa makes me so _mad_!" fumed Lily, stomping through the portrait hole. She had nearly screamed the password to Gryffindor Tower at the Fat Lady, who was highly affronted at being woken up from a pleasant nap.

"Lily," said Violet, concerned for her friend, "calm down. Once in your fifth year when you become a prefect, you can give all the detentions you want to Narcissa and the other Slytherins."

Lily smiled pleasantly at the thought. Then she frowned. "Who said I was going to be a prefect?"

Violet snorted. "Oh, come on Lil, it's so obvious you will! You score top on every subject, and all the teachers like you. I'll bet you'll get the highest score of the first years on your exams."

"Exams!" yelped Lily suddenly. "Oh my God, I forgot all about them! Oh dear…" She started to hyperventilate.

"Whoa!" cried Sirius, as he saw Lily jumping in frenzy when he entered the common room. "What's wrong, Lily?" He sounded concerned.

"The exams are _so_ close by, and I haven't even studied for Transfiguration! Oh, what'll McGonagall say—?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh, come on, Lils, Violet isn't even worried, and she's practically at the bottom of the class in Transfiguration!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Violet, but it's the truth." Sirius smirked.

"Lily!" whined Violet.

"Sirius, don't tease your friends," reprimanded Lily.

"Yes, Mother."

Lily burst into laughter. _Oh, Sirius is so funny sometimes_, she thought to herself. _And pretty cute too – wait, where did _that_ come from? He's my friend!_

"Mind if I ask what you're thinking, Flower?" Sirius' voice brought her back to earth.

"Yes, I actually would mind, Sirius Black," snapped Lily good-naturedly.

"Now, now, Lily, you mustn't flirt with old Sirius here, your boyfriend will get jealous," he teased.

"Don't be stupid, Sirius, I haven't _got_ a boyfriend. Besides, I'm not flirting with you, I'm only conversing."

"Same thing."

"Except flirting has a negative connotation. Am I mooning over you or fluttering my eyelashes?"

"Er—no."

"So that means I'm not flirting," said Lily impatiently. "Besides, Arabella would kill me if I was found kissing _her_ boyfriend.

"Would Bells do that?" asked Sirius innocently.

Lily snorted. "Sirius, your girlfriend has some temper when you try to mess with it."

"Did I hear my name mentioned?" They both turned around to find Arabella standing there with a smirk on her face.

"Your boyfriend," began Lily, "thinks I'm flirting with him. Just because I told him I would mind if I told him my thoughts."

"Ignore him, Lils, Sirius is an idiot," replied Arabella, grinning. "If you're desperate, you can ask James."

"I'd rather not. I'm not desperate enough. Though James is rather cute and funny."

Lily had touched Arabella's romantic side. She and Sirius exchanged knowing glances and began to make funny antics of Lily and James as a couple.

"Oh, Jamsie-poo, you're such a romantic!" came Bella's best Lily-like voice.

"Lily, your beauty touches me…it can't be human!" was Sirius' donation.

Violet laughed until she cried, while Lily stared between the couple with a frown. "That does not sound like my voice!"

"Oh, Flower, be a sport," teased Sirius. "We were only joking. Besides, it's not like James heard us…"

"Hush!" warned Lily. "Don't say that!"

"Why not?" asked Sirius, confused. 

"Because whenever you say things like that, they actually happen!" hissed Lily, looking around nervously.

"Don't be superstitious, Lil," said Arabella, but she too was looking around the common room for some sign of a black-haired boy.

"Yeah, really, I don't seen any sign of James."

As if right on cue, James came bounding down the boys' dormitory and Sirius rubbed his eyes for a better look. Yep, that was James all right, and he had on a dreamy expression.

"James?" he croaked. "Did you hear what we were saying?"

James was humming to himself, but stopped at the sight of them. "Oh, hey Sirius," he greeted enthusiastically. "Lovely day, huh?"

"What?"

"I said, it's a lovely day, isn't it?"

"Er—yeah, lovely day," replied Sirius absently. Then he started. "What are you on about, James?"

"Oh, just thinking about Deanna," replied James dreamily. 

Lily snickered. "Sirius, it's too obvious that lover-boy is under the influence of a love potion. James," she said, turning to him, "did you drink something today?"

"Drink something?" James frowned, pondering on her question. "Oh, as a matter of fact, I did. I drank this weird pink liquid that Deanna offered me. Isn't she sweet? It tasted like crystal swirls, the same crystals in her eyes…" He trailed off, sighing romantically.

Lily looked sick and turned to her best friend. "Bella, this is proof that Deanna Jackson has given Potter a love potion so that he could fall in love with her."

"Is there a way to make him snap out of it?" gasped Sirius.

"I don't know. I suppose there might be a potion that will make him normal again, though."

Sirius stood up. "You've got to help me make it then," he said to Lily.

Just then, Remus entered the common room, looking happy. He stopped at the sight of Sirius with a worried expression on his face. "Are you all right, Sirius?" he asked.

"No. Remus, the most horrible thing happened to James!" whined Sirius, and he told Remus all about the love potion.

"Is Deanna _that_ evil?" asked Remus when Sirius finished his tale.

"No, she's just quite desperate," said Lily, answering the question for Sirius.

"I'll say," muttered Arabella. Then she said comfortingly to Sirius, "Don't worry, Sirius, we'll help. Er—right Lily?"

Lily sighed. "Right…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to help Potter just this once."

"Yeah, you need to help out your future husband here and there," said Sirius, grinning.

Her mouth opened in horror. "You _know_ that we're going to get married later on?" she asked.

Arabella stood up. "You _are_?" she demanded faintly.

"Yes. But Dumbledore told us not to tell _anyone_ about it. I hope James didn't tell you," she said, looking at Sirius sternly.

"Er—well, actually, I overheard the conversation you had with Dumbledore," said Sirius sheepishly. He heard Lily screech in agony.

"Now what am I supposed to do? The whole world knows!" The common room had suddenly become silent.

"Go mind your business," she snapped, at a couple of seventh years, not caring that they were six years older than she was. The seventh years turned back to studying for their N.E.W.T.S., obviously not used to first years screaming at them.

"Forget that, Lil, I won't tell anyone," said Arabella sincerely. Then she turned to Remus. "And neither would Remus."

"I wouldn't tell a soul," promised Remus.

Lily smiled weakly. "Well—that's a relief. I wouldn't want the whole world to know about…you know."

Just then, James strolled over and stood right in front of her. "Excuse me, Lily, but do you know where Deanna is?" he asked politely. 

Lily's eyes widened in shock. James had never spoken to her politely before, and always sneered at her behind her back. "Er—no. I think she might be—er—at the library." 

James gave her a genuine smile. "Thanks Lily," and took off, undoubtedly to the library.

"Oh Jamsie!" A high-pitched voice coming from the second year girls' dormitory made the four all jump. 

"James," said Lily coolly, as Deanna entered the common room with a lovesick gaze in her eyes, "is in the library looking for _you_. I suggest you follow him, Deanna."

Deanna beamed at Lily. "Why, thank you Lily dear. I think I will." She skipped out of the portrait hole and down the corridor.

Arabella snorted. "Girls do the stupidest things when they're in love."

"Aww…you know that includes you, Bella dear," said Sirius.

"Does it?"

"Of course! You shouldn't be saying these things to your boyfriend, naughty, naughty."

"I didn't _say_ anything bad, you prat."

Sirius looked genuinely hurt. "I'm hurt," he pouted.

Lily and Remus burst into laughter, while Arabella snickered. Then Sirius rubbed his hands together and said, "Well, James and Deanna can't fall in love—then it'll ruin the prophecy thing about Lily and James getting married." He grinned. "Lily and James Potter…it has a nice ring to it."

Lily swatted Sirius playfully and they began to work on a counter-curse potion.

"This isn't going to work," sighed Lily, frustrated, after half an hour of looking in their potion book. "I think it's time for drastic action."

"What kind?" asked Remus, who had enough looking himself.

Lily pinched her forehead hard and said wearily, "Hurst."

Sirius scrambled to his feet. "_Hurst_? Are you daft, Lily? You know he wouldn't help us for his life, and if he miraculously does, we'll have to tell him _everything._"

"Well, we'll have to think of something. Maybe a casual chat with him…and let the subject of a counter-curse for a love potion slip out."

"Well, you're certainly doing it," said Sirius stubbornly. "It's your idea, and Hurst can tolerate you more than he can tolerate me or Remus."

"Fine," said Lily grumpily. Then she muttered, "Potter owes me big time."

"Don't worry, James will cough up," said Sirius brightly.

Just then, James and Deanna entered the common room arm-in-arm. Lily scowled fiercely but began to huddle and whisper to the others.

"Right…we'll also have to borrow some ingredients from Hurst's office…"

"_We_'ll?"

"Well, you don't expect me to do _everything_ do you?" snapped Lily. "Besides, he's your friend," she said to Remus and Sirius. 

Remus sighed. "Of course we'll help you, Lil. Just—who's going to do it?"

Lily sighed in frustration. "_All_ of us, of course. Now, here's the plan. Bella, you and I will cause a diversion. Remus, you and Sirius have to get the ingredients we need. But"—she glanced around to see if anyone was listening—"we'll have to ask Madame Pince if there's a counter-curse potion for a love potion. She won't be too nosy."

"But what about Hurst?" asked Sirius.

"What _about_ him?"

"You said that we'd ask _him_ for the counter-curse potion!" 

"Oh…" Lily trailed off, embarrassed. "Well, I thought of a different plan, then."

Sirius snorted. "With Lily in charge, this'll all fall apart. You'll see."

Lily turned to face him, her eyes flashing. "Sirius Black, you take that back!"

"Want a bet?"

"You're on!"

"How much do you want to lose?"

Lily thought of the money that was hidden under her trunk. There had to be at least fifty galleons worth of coins in there. "Five galleons," she said firmly.

Sirius grinned. "You play a hard bargain, woman. Five galleons it is."

"Are you guys going to find the potion or what?" hissed Arabella. "Let's go already! Ugh!" She let out a disgusted noise, and pointed to an armchair.

Lily had an urge to burst out laughing, and sure enough, she did. Deanna and James were sitting, squashed, in one of the armchairs by the fire, kissing. Sirius and Remus soon joined in the laughter, but Arabella was still looking disapprovingly at them.

"Lily!" she scolded. "You're supposed to marry James later on!"

"So?" asked Lily, still shaking with laughter.

Arabella shook her head sadly and turned to Sirius and Remus. "You know, Remus, I happen to know a girl who's pinning for you."

Remus stopped laughing. "Who?" he asked, and his voice sounded almost nervous.

Arabella glanced over to Lily, who had promptly stopped laughing as well. "Jennifer," she whispered, so only the three of them could hear.

Lily burst out laughing again. 

Arabella glared at her best friend. "I'm _not _joking, Lil."

Lily was sober, and her eyes widened. "You're not serious, Bells?"

She nodded. "Indeed I am. I hear poor Jenny talking in her sleep and it's the saddest thing you'd ever hear. '_Oh Remus, I love you with all my eternity, and I'd love to marry you_'. It's sickening, really. I couldn't sleep for a week listening to Jennifer moan at night." 

Sirius and Remus burst out laughing, but Lily didn't join in. "Well, we should get you two together!" she whispered excitedly.

Remus' eyes were wide. "No."

"Please Remus? I wouldn't want one of my closest friends to be heartbroken."

Remus shook his head. "I don't like Jennifer – in that way."

"So?" demanded Sirius, still chuckling. "You need a girl, Remus, you can't be a bachelor your whole life."

Remus glared at his friend. "Sirius, we're _eleven_. That's when hormones _don't_ work overtime yet. You three are so precocious."

"Where _is_ Jenny, by the way?" asked Lily suddenly. "And where has Violet gone to?"

"I think they're both flirting with the Hufflepuffs," said Sirius solemnly, unable to keep a straight face.

Arabella grinned. "I seriously doubt that, Sirius."

"Me too. But it's something to dream about, eh?"

"Right…so, off we go to the library. I can't believe I volunteered to save Potter from a terrible fate. Eurgh." Lily made a face as the four of them marched out of the portrait hole.

"Oh, Lily dear, where are you going?" came Deanna's voice from inside the common room. "Aren't you missing James?" They heard an evident snicker follow.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" muttered Lily, as they entered the library. "Ditzy little—"

"Shh!" hissed Madame Pince, the strict, librarian, as they passed. "Be quiet!"

The four of them muffled their voices as they wandered around. Finally, Arabella insisted that they ask Madame Pince.

"Er—Madame Pince?" asked Arabella timidly. "Um…would you happen to know where to find a counter-curse potion for a love potion?" Her voice was fearfully soft, unlike her usual rowdy one.

"It's over there," said Madame Pince, pointing to a section of the library where the books seemed to be falling into pieces. "Why?" she asked suspiciously, glancing around at all of their guilty faces. "There hasn't been a usage of one, has there? You know it's against school rules to stir a love potion."

"Oh no! We were just—um—wondering, since er—since my _sister_ wanted to know. So we thought we could—erm—send her the ingredients and stuff."

"Well, help yourselves," said Madame Pince grudgingly, still squinting suspiciously at them. Suddenly, she yelled at Remus, "You boy! Madame Pomfrey wants to see you tonight."

"Why does Madame Pomfrey want to see you tonight?" asked Lily curiously, as they took out the book they needed.

"I've been feeling a bit off color," said Remus swiftly, his ears going red. "So—she'd give me some…medicine."

"Oh," said Lily, frowning. "Well, I hope you feel better soon."

"Oh, I—er—I will."

"D'you get the feeling that Remus is hiding something from us?" whispered Arabella when Remus was out of earshot. 

"Yeah," whispered Lily. "He seems awkward whenever we bring up the topic. I wonder why he's not telling us. He's our friend, you know, and we wouldn't care if he has warts or something."

"Definitely not," agreed Arabella. "So it must be something really horrible, then, since he won't tell us…"

"Hey!" called Sirius. "Are you guys helping or not?"

"Sure, Sir, we're coming."

"Sir?" he questioned quizzically as the girls approached them.

"It's a cute nickname, don't you think?" giggled Arabella. Lily shivered.

"Bells, you're acting like those ditzy Hufflepuff girls who follow James around, drooling." 

"Oops, my mistake."

"What's wrong with them? I like it when people follow me around!" exclaimed Sirius, insulted.

"That's because you love the public, Sir," said Lily, grinning.

"Now _you_'re calling me 'Sir'? Soon Jamie-boy will be calling me Sir! For heavens' sake, my _name_ will be Sir instead of Sirius!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

"I found it!" hissed Remus, gesturing them. "Look!" He pointed to a page, written in scrolling letters: Neutral Potion: The Counter-Curse Potion of a Love Potion

"That's it!" whispered Lily excitedly. "That's it! Let's read the ingredients." She scanned over the ingredients quickly and moaned. "Oh God, we'll never be able to get this stuff…frog perfume…leeches…scallop peels…Madame Malkin's Rosy Red Lipstick…this is outrageous! Where are we going to find all this?"

"Come on, half of it is make-up," said Sirius, grabbing the book from Lily. "You guys are probably loaded with that stuff in your trunks…"

Lily and Arabella looked at each other. "Er…actually, Sirius, neither Lily nor I own _any_ make-up."

Sirius was shocked. "Not _any_ at all? Are you girls?"

Lily snorted. "Of course we're girls! We're just not normal, idiotic, and ditzy girls like the ones that follow Potter around. We're more sensible girls."

"Right…hey, you can borrow some make-up from…say Deanna. She's probably plastered with that stuff."

"Good idea, Sir! That's the smartest thing you've come up with so far!"

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, Sirius, it wasn't personal."

"Oh, well in that case…"

"I meant it was the smartest thing said to help with the potion."

"That _is_ personal, Lils." Arabella snorted. Then she suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, where has Violet gone?"

Now it was Lily's turn to ridicule her best friend. "Come on, Bells, I just asked you that in the common room."

"I know, but…" She rubbed her forehead in concentration. "She was just _there_ when I came in, unless…" Arabella grinned. "Unless she was having some sort of you-know-what with Peter in the boys' dorm—"

Sirius and Remus both groaned. "The things you think sometimes, Bella," said Remus, shaking his head.

"They're so true, aren't they?" Bella snickered.

"So…we'll have to ask Deanna for make-up?" asked Lily dubiously. "Do we have anyone else to try? Deanna will think I'm jealous or something, and I definitely don't want to ask her for any favors."

"What about Narcissa Fitz?" suggested Sirius.

"Sirius, she's a Slytherin! We most definitely don't ask Slytherins for favors. Think of it as asking Snape for help on this…"

"All right, I get your point!" said Sirius loudly, causing Madame Pince to look their way menacingly.

After five minutes of discussing this problem, Lily, who was impatient as ever, had made the conclusion that asking Deanna had to be the best choice.

"Must I be the one who asks?" she said sadly to her friends.

"Of course," said Arabella practically. "It'll look, I don't know, more natural if you asked. Besides, Deanna has this thing with me anyway. Last time I asked her for a bit of mascara for the Halloween Feast she wouldn't hear of it. She likes you better anyhow, since I heard her tell James that you were a sweet angel."

"Angels don't have red hair," Lily pointed out. "At least, normal angels don't. They always have blond hair."

"Whatever. Just go ask her, Lil. I promise to help Sirius make James cough up a lot of money." Arabella was practically on her knees, pleading.

"Oh fine, if you insist." Lily rushed to Gryffindor Tower, said the password to the Fat Lady in a hurry, and entered the common room.

"Deanna," she gasped, "may I borrow some make-up from you? You know, lotion, perfume, lipstick…that stuff."

Deanna's pearly white teeth glittered as she smiled that perfect smile of hers. "Of course, Lily. Just go up to my dormitory and take whatever you need. If McGonagall catches you, then just say you have my permission. Oh, and don't use too much of my _Victoria's Secret_ perfume; I want to use it for my date with Jamie tonight." She smirked.

"Right…" Lily hurried away with the list, took whatever she needed, and hurried off to the library again.

"What's that smell?" hissed Arabella, pinching her nose up in the air.

"All the ingredients we need—at least, almost half of them. We'll have to take some from the student cupboard, that's easy—but we'll have to borrow some from Hurst's office…"

"Borrow? Don't you mean steal?"

"Hey, I'm trying to put it in a more casual way," snapped Lily.

"Then _say_ steal, it is more casual!"

"Fine, we'll _steal_ the ingredients we need from Hurst's office. Happy?"

"Very."

"Now, this time you guys will finally get to do work, since I've been helping with most of this potion. Funny thing, really, Sirius, you should be helping James, since he's your best friend…"

"All right!" said Sirius, looking irritated. "Just get on with the plan."

"I told you the plan, Sirius. Bella and I will cause a diversion while you and Remus get the ingredients."

"Why me and Remus?"

"Because, Hurst wouldn't at all trust you if you tried to cause a diversion. He'd send you straight back to Gryffindor Tower."

"He'd send you and Bells back too," pointed out Sirius.

"That's true—but think of it this way, Siri: you and Remus are much—erm—faster…" Lily scratched her head. "Perhaps me and Arabella should do the stealing instead. After all, I _am_ top at Charms."

"Don't get so cocky, Lily," warned Sirius. "Remus and I will do the stealing and you guys can do the diversion. You're right, Hurst does like you a tiny bit more than us." He winked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Are we ready?"

"Hold on." Sirius ran up the staircase to the boys' dormitory and came back minutes later with a folded cloak.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak!" gasped Lily, as she saw the cloak on Sirius. "Where on earth did you get it?"

"It's Jamie-boy's," said Sirius, smiling mysteriously. "Our Marauders' secret."

***

"Stop shaking," hissed Lily at a nervous Arabella. "Someone will hear us."

"They won't see us," whispered Bella. 

"So? They might knock into us by accident."

"Then shut up!"

"You started it!" Their whispers became more like yells.

"Both of you, shut up!" gasped Sirius. 

"I can't believe I'm risking my neck for Potter. If Hurst or McGonagall catches us, it'll be a month's worth of detentions and one hundred points from Gryffindor!" Lily sighed, as if doing this was against her own conscience.

"Shut up, will you?" Sirius whispered, poking Lily sharply on the shoulder.

"Ouch!"

"Shh!"

"All right," grumbled Lily. 

Lily and Arabella slipped the Invisibility Cloak off them and knocked timidly on Hurst's office. They heard a sharp "Come in", and hurried into his office.

"What do you want?" he spat, not bothering to be polite.

The two girls looked at each other nervously. "Er—"

"Well?"

"Er—I was wondering what sort of potion we'd be learning next, Professor," said Lily awkwardly, treading on Arabella's toe.

"A Shrinking Solution," snapped Hurst, narrowing his eyes. Lily could hear a muffled sound as Sirius and Remus were probably scuffling out of Hurst's office. "Now get out of my sight and return to Gryffindor Tower. Now."

"Y-yes, sir."

Sirius and Remus were waiting for them outside of the portrait hole. "Do you have it?" breathed Lily.

They both nodded.

"Excellent! Now, we'll have to mix it somewhere…"

"Our dormitory, then. McGonagall would never look there; last time she did, she said it was the messiest room she'd seen in her life."

Lily snorted. "Naturally."

They raced up the boys' dormitory, borrowed Lily's shiny new pewter cauldron, must to her disgust, and began work. Arabella, groaning and complaining, had chopped and measured whatever was needed, and the rest of them poured it into the cauldron. Soon it was finished, and the four moved back to admire their work.

"Now we feed it to Potter," said Lily matter-of-factly. "I was thinking we pour it into a glass of pumpkin juice, since the potion will look less conspicuous and Potter will be happy for a drink after the heated experience with Deanna." She rushed to the second year girls' dormitory and returned all of Deanna's make-up and perfume. Then she poured some of the potion into a glass of pumpkin juice and went down to the common room where James and Deanna were flirting hopelessly.

"Hey, Potter, want a drink?" asked Lily, as amiable as possible, as the foursome approached the couple.

"Sure," said James, wiping his brow in exhaust. He drank it gratefully and handed the glass back to Lily. They waited with anticipation at the results. Nothing of the obvious happened to him, but then his eyes widened and he calmed down a bit. Deanna noticed none of this, however. She was staring at Lily to see her reactions to her new 'boyfriend'.

Suddenly, James exclaimed, "Why am I sitting with you? In the _same_ chair?"

"But Jamsie," pouted Deanna. "Don't you like me anymore?"

"I never did like you, Deanna," sighed James, and pushed the plump girl away. 

"It worked!" whispered Sirius. They dragged James to the boys' dormitory.

"Pay up, Potter," said Lily when they got there. "Oh, you too, Sirius."

"Right," said Sirius rather reluctantly, but he drew out five galleons and handed them over to Lily.

"I don't get it," said James, frowning. "Why are you paying Evans? And why do I have to pay her?"

"Deanna gave you a love potion, and we mixed the counter-curse potion, mostly done by Lily," said Remus briskly. He never did use too many words.

"_What_? And I have to pay Evans back for gratitude! No way!"

"Come on, James, you guys have jewelry and treasure in your Gringotts' vault, you should owe Lily some money."

"Fine!" James shoved a handful of coins into Lily's hand, but Lily shook her head. 

"I don't want this." She shoved the coins back to James and ran from the dormitory.

"Now look what you did, Potter!" growled Arabella.

"What? What did I do? It was Evans' fault! She's the one who—"

They suddenly heard a distinct wailing from the girls' dormitory. Arabella stood up and glared at all of them.

"I hope you're satisfied, now that you made Lily cry." Then she turned her heel up and marched out of their dormitory.

"Girls," muttered Sirius. "I mean, I love Bella and everything, but boy can she be weird."

"Definitely," agreed James moodily.

"Jen? Shh…why are you crying?" asked Lily softly, as Arabella barged into their dormitory. She stopped at the sight of a crying Jennifer.

"Jenny! Why are you crying?" she repeated.

"R-Remus, h-he d-d-doesn't l-like m-m-me at all!" wailed Jennifer.

The three girls exchanged glances. Then Arabella began nervously, "He might be afraid Jen…"

"Afraid!" cried Jennifer. "Of what?"

Lily and Arabella both sat on the edge of Jennifer's bed. Then Lily began.

"Well…er…Bella here plundered on to the boys that you liked Remus. Then Remus said that we were too young to think of love and dating, and he also sounded and looked kind of nervous. We think he's hiding something."

Lily, Arabella, Violet, and Jennifer all looked at each other. Then Violet spoke up.

"I think that we should do a bit of poking around when Remus goes with Madame Pomfrey tonight."

Lily gasped. "I suddenly realized something! Tonight's the full moon! Professor Sinistra made us memorize the cycles of the moon for Astronomy, and I remembered that tonight's the full moon!"

"And if Remus is going to see Madame Pomfrey…" Then the girls exclaimed in unison, "Remus Lupin is a werewolf!"

"But Remus…" began Jennifer, her eyes wide. "He's a _werewolf_? I can't believe that! He—he's a monster!" She finished faintly.

"Jen, you know it's the same, sweet Remus we've always known," said Arabella pragmatically. 

"I know, but how come he's never told us before?"

"Because he's afraid he might lose us as friends, if we ever found out," said Violet quietly. I think—er—poking around isn't such a good idea. After all, werewolves are a danger to people."

"Yeah," sighed Lily. "I just wish there was some way to help Remus."

Arabella grabbed her friend's arm sharply. "Tell the boys."

"No. I know that they might not care if Remus is a werewolf, but then again, boys aren't so open-minded. Let them figure it out themselves. I mean, we're not the only ones who wonder why Remus disappears once a month. Besides, Potter and Sirius are the cleverest boys in the first year, they'd figure it out sooner or later."

"So you _do_ like James now?" asked Arabella slyly. Lily responded with a whack from her pillow.

***

Lily and James were walking down the corridor together. Again, Dumbledore had wished to see them, much to Lily's displeasure. 

"I can't believe I marry you," sighed Lily, as they walked closer to the stone gargoyle. "I must grow really stupid when I get older."

James roared with laughter. "You, get stupid? I mean, if I get stupid when I get older, there's possibility, but _you_? The genius of the first years?" He shook his head, still chortling.

"It could happen," snapped Lily, but flushed with pleasure. The thought that James said that she was the genius of the first years did a strange effect on her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Professor Dumbledore appeared, holding some sort of dignified block of glass. Bewildered, Lily and James followed him into his office.

"Look into this," he said quietly.

They both peered into it, still confused. Then, a picture appeared in it. It looked like a regular television set to Lily, except smaller. It was a girl and two boys speaking, and she recognized them to be the ones laughing on the Quidditch field in Dumbledore's crystal ball.

"I can't believe what Snape is making me do," they heard the red-haired boy mutter as the trio of them walked down the corridor. "Black could've finished him off for us, eh?"

"Oh, Ron, don't be silly, but will Snape be substituting for Professor Lupin again—?" they heard the bushy-haired girl sigh.

"Professor Lupin's back!" exclaimed the black-haired boy, Harry, as he peered into what looked like the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The three of them went inside and Lily and James caught a glimpse of a rather tired-looking man with light brown hair that had wisps of gray in them, but he was rather young. He also looked oddly like—

"Remus!" they both whispered together.

Professor Dumbledore smiled as he put the block of glass aside. "I thought you might like to see a little bit of the future."

"But—but," spluttered James. "Remus—become a professor? Of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"It may be a ludicrous thought for you now," answered Dumbledore gently, "but I'm sure Mr. Lupin will be showing a lot of his teaching skills later on at Hogwarts. The boy is mighty talented, however..." Dumbledore shook his head sadly and said nothing, but Lily knew what he was going to say.

"Why did they call Sirius 'Black'?" she queried. "Surely if we..._died_, Harry, or whatever is name is, should be close with our friends?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "That I cannot tell you, Miss Evans. It's for you to find out later on. It's not good to know too many things about the future. Your future. Your friends' future."

Lily and James left Dumbledore's office with quizzical looks on their faces. Remus, shy, sweet, and calm Remus—become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? And Sirius—called 'Black' by nearly everyone in the castle in a terrified and disgusted way...perhaps some sort of infamous...well...they didn't quite know what.

-

Lily was shaking, as she stood up in Charms for the exam by making a pineapple tap-dance across a desk, raised her arm. In a flick, the immobile pineapple that lay motionless on the desk had started tap-dancing vigorously across the desk. The class burst into applause and Lily sat back down in her seat next to Arabella in relief.

"That was incredible, Lils," she hissed, as Lily collapsed into her chair, ashen-faced. "Told you."

Lily only smiled.

"I can't believe that pineapple wouldn't budge until the last second!" exclaimed James emphatically as they left Charms half an hour later. "How does Evans do it?"

"Talent and skill, my friend, talent and skill," said Sirius wisely. Then he added, "And the proper wand, of course."

"I wish I had the proper wand for Charms," sighed James, exasperated.

"You have the proper wand for Transfiguration," offered Remus helpfully. Peter, his thoughts still on how terribly he did on his exam by making the pineapple wither before their eyes, did not speak.

James noticed this right away. "Don't worry, Peter, you'll get it—sometime."

"Or someday," added Sirius.

"Sirius!"

"What?"

James sighed, frustrated. "Well, it's lunch time, then after that it's Transfiguration. Well, at least I don't have to suffer on that." Then he smirked widely. "And I'll be watching Evans suffer, for a change." 

How very wrong he was. Right after lunch, the first year Gryffindors headed off to their Transfiguration exam. Lily was looking thoroughly confident, and when it came her turn, she gave a casual wave of her wand, and the mouse she was supposed to turn into a snuffbox had first turned into a shade of scarlet and gold, and into a beautiful snuffbox. Professor McGonagall, who knew that Lily was hopeless at Transfiguration, was thoroughly astonished at how pretty and perfect the snuffbox turned to be. As Lily went back to her seat, Arabella gave a quiet but admiring whistle.

"That was amazing, Lil! I thought you said you were terrible at Transfiguration."

"I've practiced that one for a month," muttered Lily, grinning as she sat down.

James had also turned his snuffbox into a scarlet and gold mix. McGonagall didn't look surprised, but calmly nodded, allowing him to take a seat. But what puzzled the rest of the class when everyone finished their exams was why Lily and James turned their snuffboxes into the same thing. They knew that it wasn't your choice how pretty your snuffbox turned out to be, but the news spread through the whole school like wildfire—Lily and James had the same snuffbox.

"I don't know what the big fuss is about," complained Lily, as she saw another group of people huddled together, pointing at her and nudging at their friends. "I mean, so what if James and I had the same snuffbox?"

"It's never happened before in a long time," said Arabella solemnly. "Hasn't for what—two hundred years? When two people transfigure objects into the same exact thing in shape and size, it often means that they are destined for each other."

"You mean love?" asked Lily, puzzled.

"Well, not exactly. I mean, there are a lot of people in love, but most of them don't transfigure objects into the exact same thing. It's something more powerful than love—something like a love that can never be destroyed. Love that even death cannot be destroyed, and when one or both of the soulmates die, their love will live in others that they loved before."

Lily stared at her friend. "How do you know these things?"

Arabella shrugged. "I read it in our Transfiguration book."

Lily laughed. "And I thought I paid attention to my homework!"

"Well, it wasn't necessarily homework. I just found it interesting so I started to flip through the book and read it."

"You don't think it's true, do you, Bells?"

"It probably is."

"Please say you're kidding."

"I'm _not_ kidding."

"Thanks a lot, Bells," groaned Lily. She collided right into James Potter.

"Watch where you're going next time, Evans!" cried James, stumbling backwards. Luckily Remus caught his shoulder firmly with his arm.

"Thanks Remus—hey, why the long faces?"

"Lily got upset about what I said," said Arabella matter-of-factly.

"Really? What did you say?"

"That the love you both will one day share will be more powerful than regular love."

James stared, just as Lily had done. "That's not true."

"Yes, it is. You two are destined for each other, James. Just—not yet."

***

"I'll see you over the summer, Lils!" called Arabella, waving frantically to her best friend and walking grudgingly after her mother.

"I'll see you too, Bella! Thanks for inviting me, Mrs. Figg!" added Lily. She was practically yelling on the top of her lungs.

"You're welcome, Lily," said Mrs. Figg warmly. 

"Lily!" It was Mrs. Evans calling, and she was beaming at her daughter.

"Mum!" cried Lily, and flew into her mother's outstretched arms. "Dad!" She hugged her father. But when she saw Petunia sulking off at a corner, she nodded curtly, and said shortly, "Petunia."

"Lily," snapped Petunia just as shortly.

Lily ignored her sister and began to tell her parents about her exams. She had gotten three hundred and fifteen percent in Charms; two hundred in Transfiguration; one hundred and fifty five in Astronomy; one hundred and ninety-eight in Herbology; two hundred and twelve in History of Magic; three hundred in Defense Against the Dark Arts; and one hundred and ten in Potions. Lily was certainly amazed that she had gotten that high in Potions. She had expected something terrible, but Professor Hurst must have given in sometime, deciding to be a little less biased. She had scored top of the first years, with James Potter and Sirius Black tailing very close to her in second. Remus, Violet, Arabella, and Jennifer had all done very well, going above average, but Peter did abysmally. But Professor Dumbledore, having a good heart, had let the little boy pass, much to Professor McGonagall's dismay.

Her mother's eyes filled with tears after she finished and sobbed on Mr. Evans' shoulder and wailed that she was so proud of Lily. Mr. Evans just stood there, patting his wife's shoulder awkwardly and congratulating Lily enthusiastically and how proud he was, too, for having such a clever witch for a daughter.

"Hey." Lily turned around, and to her surprise and horror, James Potter was grinning at her, his brown eyes full of mischief as usual.

Mrs. Evans had wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and asked Lily, smiling, "Is this your new friend, Lily?"

Lily shrugged. "Er—I guess." She didn't want her parents to think that the boy standing there was her biggest enemy, or else they'd make her leave Hogwarts right away.

James grinned even widely and gave the Evans a short bow. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Lily and I are—er—great friends." He furrowed his brow after the last sentence. Then he spotted Petunia lurking around her parents' back and snorted softly. He had heard a lot about this girl from Lily, who thought that magical people were "freaks".

"Hello," he said, trying to be friendly but failing terribly. "Er—you must be Petunia, right?"

She looked up and stared at him, examining him from head to toe. While battling on what to say, she finally snapped, "You must be one of Lily's _friends_ at school."

James shrugged. "I suppose you could say that."

"Did Lily tell you about me?"

"Er—a bit."

"The freak," Petunia muttered under her breath. She kept shooting James daggers and muttering things like "freak" and "never combed his hair in his life" to herself. James restrained himself from laughing.

"Well, I'll see you over the summer, then, Lily," he said casually, and ran back to where his parents were waiting. 

"See me over the summer?" said Lily to herself, as she got into the car. "What does he mean? I suppose Potter just meant that he'd see me on September 1st again, when the term started and when we become second years." 

Then she laid down her head as the car drove through the familiar Muggle surroundings that Lily had grown up in, not knowing that she would see the whole gang—including James' friends—that summer, and have the best time of her life. For now, she was just glad the end-of-the-year exams were over and done with and that she passed the first year. But something still lingered on her mind and kept repeating itself. It was the Sorting Hat's voice when it had sorted her into Gryffindor. 

"_You will become an important part of the magical world someday, along with Mr. Po—but I shall not tell you." _Did it mean James?


	4. Second Year: Part One

Year Two – Part One

"Lily!" A familiar female voice was calling, and Lily turned around and screamed, "Bella!"

"Hey Lils," greeted Arabella, watching her friend's red hair soar in the wind as she approached her. "Nice vacation, eh?"

"Best I've ever had," said Lily, smiling. She was starting to remember the events of the summer. 

Lily was humming to herself as she watched the birds sing sweet songs on a nearby tree. It was always a hobby of hers, to watch birds. Suddenly, out of nowhere, something whooshed by, causing her to nearly fall of the edge of her bed. Now soaring through the sky were a couple of broomsticks. Lily grinned, thinking that it was probably Arabella coming to save her from Petunia. Maybe Violet and Jennifer, her two other friends at Hogwarts, had come too.

As soon as she opened her window to let them in, it was no other than James Potter, her arch-nemesis at Hogwarts. Of course, he wasn't as bad as Severus Snape, the avid Gryffindor-hater, who also, unexpectedly and unfortunately, had an enormous crush on Lily. 

"What are you doing here, Potter?" she hissed, glaring at the boy.

"I'm allowed to save you from Petunia, aren't I?" He grinned that lop-sided grin of his. James Potter was your typically average popular boy, who was entering his second year like Lily. He had jet-black hair, which ran untidy all over the place, called "the untamed forest" by Lily. He also had soft brown eyes, which shined with mischief and bravery. He was thin and wiry, but he was very tall. Followed by him was none other than his first-hand mate, sidekick, and best friend, Sirius Black. Sirius looked a lot like his best friend, except he had longer black hair and dark black eyes that had a mysterious glitter in them, but nevertheless, they were just as mischievous as James'.

Remus followed his two friends, smiling at Lily gently. He was liked best of all among the girls (Lily's group of friends). He had light brown hair, steady gray eyes, and a thin, tired face. Yet he had a gentle air around him, perhaps a bit eerie, but he was always so gentle, so kind, like a great healer. Peter, sadly, was gliding jerkily through the air, trying to hold on to his dear life. James and Sirius offered to let him share a broomstick with either of them, but Peter jauntily refused. He seemed to want to prove to Lily, who was the smartest witch of their age, no doubt, that he was something. Maybe not a lot, but something.

Arabella, Violet, and Jennifer had come soaring right after the boys, and landed in Lily's room as well. They rode on a broomstick – Lily assumed it was a large, family-sized one, and greeted Lily with hugs.

"Girls," Sirius had muttered, "always showing such affection." But he had taken the statement back right away after Arabella gave him some "affection" of her own.

Lily laughed. "Yep. Best summer I ever had."

"Best summer you'll _ever_ have," corrected Arabella. "It's obvious the first summer after first year is more special than any other."

"Sure Bells—hey, there's Sirius!" She emphasized the last word, sending her best friend in fits.

Arabella and Sirius had their little "snog session", as Lily often called it, and her emerald eyes traveled around until it sank into a pair of brown ones.

"James Potter," she said coolly.

"Lily Evans," James said, just as coolly. Then he grinned again and motioned toward Remus, who was desperately trying to fight off a flirting Jennifer. "Looks like Dean's got it bad."

"Shut up, Potter," snapped Lily irritably. "It's not every day Jennifer gets taken with a boy. In fact, she _hates_ boys so much that I'm surprised she's even talking civilly to Remus."

"Violet's paired off with our Peter, too," said James, pretending to sigh wistfully, as he watched Peter awkwardly compliment a giggling Violet.

"Everyone's paired off," replied Lily gloomily, and she looked rather sad. 

"No one's as cute a couple as Lily Evans and James Potter," interrupted Sirius, walking towards them with a grin. He ducked as a shower of sparks hit him, and straightened up, with Arabella cuddling next to him.

"Sirius Black, don't you dare—" began Lily, but James kissed Lily unexpectedly. Lily screamed and started to threaten him, but he just grinned and winked at Sirius.

"All right, what's going on here?" asked Lily loudly.

Arabella shrugged. "Who knows. Boys are weird anyway. They never have an explanation for any of their actions."

An exclamation of "Hey!" came from the two boys, and both girls grinned. 

"Let's go find Jennifer and Violet," suggested Lily. 

When both girls left, Sirius smiled at his friend. "So...you think Lily Evans is totally gorgeous?"

James glowered at him. "Did I say that?"

"You want to."

He groaned. "Sirius, leave me alone."

Sirius shrugged. "Fine. But I'm telling you—if I break up with Bella, then I'm going after Lily."

James waved his hand impatiently. "Whatever."

"Hey, show more consideration for your wife!"

James' jaw, literally, dropped to the floor. "B-but h-how d-did you know?" he stuttered. Then he frowned and asked, "Did Evans tell you?"

"Nope. I—er—accidentally overhead your conversation with Dumbledore. But Lily already knows that I know."

James groaned. "Why am I always the last to know everything?"

"Because, Jamie-boy, everything bad always happens to you first."

He snorted. "Yeah—like falling 'in love' with Deanna Jackson, probably the most hated girl in Gryffindor."

"She's attractive."

"Not to me."

"Ah, now only going for the redheads, are we?" Sirius smirked.

"You go for the brown-curled ones," retorted James. Then his smile widened. "Didn't like Arabella too much on the first day back on the train, did we?"

Sirius colored. "None of your business, James Potter."

James pretended to gasp. "Is Sirius Black being...*gasps from the audience*...serious?"

His best friend shook his head and said bleakly, "Ha, ha."

"What's so funny?" Lily had come back, closely tailed by her three friends.

"Nothing," James muttered.

"You're always so shy around Lily, James, are you sure nothing's up?" asked Arabella slyly.

Violet coughed, which made Jennifer automatically say, "Remus, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"No." Remus was right behind James and Sirius, causing the latter to jump. "I will not, Miss Jennifer Dean."

As if expecting it all along, Jennifer's face was impassive.

"We're going to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor," said Arabella hurriedly. "We have—er—a project to finish." Then they all scurried off to the ice cream parlor, leaving Lily and James alone, standing there.

"They planned this whole thing up!" cried Lily angrily. "I knew Bella was up to something—she was writhing and squirming all over the place at breakfast."

James stared at Lily. _Sirius was right,_ he thought. _Lily Evans _is_ gorgeous. Most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life – but we're still enemies, of course._ He thought he heard a snort in the back of his head that said, _"Yeah, right, Jamie-boy."_

"I'm not Jamie-boy and I don't think Lily Evans is gorgeous!" Lily stared in surprise at James' outburst, and the boy blushed furiously.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

The whole lot of Diagon Alley was staring at him. Many of the bystanders were Hogwarts students, and some of them snickered and a few whispered to each other that James Potter, the most wanted and admired boy in school, liked Lily Evans, the prettiest and cleverest girl at Hogwarts. 

"Er—" Lily was staring at James, puzzled. No one had said that she was gorgeous—probably Sirius had put a charm on him to repeat the words "Jamie-boy, you know Lily Evans is gorgeous" in his head. 

"Shall we join our friends?" asked James, still red in the face. As they went to the ice cream parlor where their friends were, many girls flirted with James non-stop; fluttering their eyelashes and giggling like idiots. Lily looked thoroughly depressed by all the attention that she was getting as well. Nearly every boy—even fourth and fifth years—were staring at her with a mixture of astonishment and intensity. Suddenly, Severus Snape, the famous hater of Gryffindor, had come up to her, looking into her eyes pleadingly.

"Lily!" he exclaimed happily. "How pleasant to see you!" He eyed her body in approval. Then he looked over at James and frowned.

"What are you doing here, Potter?"

"I've come to buy my school supplies, Snape, you idiot," snapped James. He was obviously in a very bad mood. "Why, is that illegal?"

"It looks like you were harassing _my_ Lily," spat the greasy-haired boy. He emphasized on the 'my'.

"For heavens' sake, I'm not _yours_, Snape!" cried Lily. She had enough of the oily Slytherin as well. 

Snape was taken aback. Lily had never lost control like that to him before. He concluded that Potter had indeed messed around with the poor girl's brain and decided to make an offer involving improper advances to Evans before Evan Rosier could find him. 

"So, Lily," he began, "would you like to have a 'visit' to my dormitory today?"

"Thinking of shagging her, Snape?" spat James menacingly. Snape was taken aback.

"Well!" he exclaimed, but his tone was unusually high. "I certainly do not know how you came up with such a theory, Potter, but I can assure you—"

"No thank you, Severus," snapped Lily, "I would not like to visit your dormitory. No doubt that you do want me to crawl into bed with you, and McGonagall or Hurst catching me. Besides, it's against school rules: no Inter-House common room visits."

James sighed in relief. For a fleeting moment, he thought that Lily would accept Snape's offer just to make him jealous. But he wouldn't be, of course – would he?

"Hello? Earth to James!" It was Sirius, and he was grinning like a maniac.

James was back on earth again. Then he broke into a tirade. 

"How dare you leave me alone with Evans, Sirius Black! What were you thinking?"

Sirius shrugged. "It wasn't my plan, it was my Bella's and all her friends' plan. I swear, I had nothing to do with it!" His face was pale as James' cold face stared furiously at his.

Finally, James gave up. Maybe Sirius was telling the truth for once in his life. "Fine, forget about it."

Sirius grinned. "That's Jamie-boy for you. Always had a big heart."

"Sirius, do me a favor and stop the sappy stuff."

"Whatever you say."

James decided to change the subject. After all, they were going nowhere with this conversation. "Did you ever wonder why Remus disappears every month?"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Didn't he say his mother was ill and he had to go home to see her?" he asked, almost doubtfully.

"Yeah—but Dumbledore wouldn't allow a student to go home just because his mother was ill, would he?"

"No...but Dumbledore's always been the kind and understanding headmaster, so I wouldn't count on it. But it's funny, really, how poor Remus looks like he doesn't get enough sleep at all. I'm sure if he did go home to visit his mother, he would get a good rest."

James' head snapped up. "I think I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"The answer to Remus' mysterious disappearances!"

"Have you? What is it?"

"Well...I don't exactly have the _answer_, but I know how to find out. Here, give me a piece of parchment."

Sirius handed his best friend a piece of parchment, wondering vaguely if his friend had gone bonkers. James was scribbling down on his parchment eagerly, and Sirius leaned in to see what he was writing.

**__**

Remus disappears every month.

Remus seems awkward whenever we bring up the subject of why he disappears, so it must be something he really doesn't want us all to know.

I notice that whenever he disappears, the moon is full, because he always glances at it wistfully.

Sirius stared at the piece of parchment. "What does this all mean?" he asked eagerly. 

James shrugged. "I have no idea."

***

A week later, it was September 1st, and King's Cross was jammed with hundreds of Hogwarts students trying to get on Platform 9 ¾. Lily was pushing her cart with her trunk and owl, Hannah, in it, while struggling to have her mum stop crying.

"Mum," she sighed, exasperated. "Stop crying. I'll come home for the Christmas and Easter holidays if you want."

Her mother had stopped crying at once. "Would you, dear? Yes...I'll stop crying; you coming home will do me good..." She sniffed. 

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, I have to go, I still have fifteen minutes before the train leaves."

Her dad turned to Petunia, who was, as usual, sulking at a corner. "Petunia, say good-bye to your sister," he said sternly.

"No," replied Petunia defiantly. "Why should I? She said she was coming home for Christmas and Easter holidays."

Before the Evans could say another word, Lily pushed her cart between Platforms Nine and Ten, hearing distinct yells and noises behind her. _Probably Mum and Dad yelling at Petunia for being so 'rude' to her sister_, she thought, grinning. She ran with all her might through the barrier, until the words "Platform nine-and-three-quarters" were hanging above her head. 

"Lily! There you are!" It was her best friend, Arabella, calling and waving to her frantically. Behind her, Jennifer and Violet, Lily's other two friends, were happy to see her again.

"Hey Bella, Jen, Violet!" greeted Lily enthusiastically. "Sorry I couldn't get here earlier; Mum was crying her eyes out again. 'Fraid I have to go home over the Christmas and Easter holidays—promised Mum."

Arabella's face looked downcast, but she brightened up again. "So...will you and James get together again?"

"No." Lily sighed in resentment and impatience. Why were her friends so caught up in matchmaking them?

"Lily Flower!" She turned around to see James Potter's circle of Marauders run towards her in excitement. 

"Hello Lily," greeted Remus affectionately. Lily had always liked Remus best of them all; he was always so gentle and understanding.

"Hi Remus," said Lily, smiling at the tired boy. Then she turned to Peter and Sirius. "Hey, Peter, Sirius."

They both greeted her, and Lily purposely ignored the fourth member and ringleader of them all. 

"Hi Evans." It was James, and he was sporting his usual lop-sided grin.

"Potter," was all Lily said. She disliked – no, _hated_, James Potter from the moment she met him a year ago at King's Cross. The six other friends sensed a hatred silence between them, and stood awkwardly aside.

Then James nudged Sirius, and the boys filed into the train and went in search of an empty compartment. The girls found an empty one just at the end of the train and collapsed into the seats tiredly.

"Petunia bore you to death, Lil?" asked Arabella, yawning. 

"Yep. She wouldn't say good-bye to me at the train station, so I think I heard my mum and dad yell at her when I was out of earshot."

All four girls laughed. The compartment door slid open and the four Marauders came barging in.

"We need to sit here," said James shortly. "All the others are full."

"Are you sure you're just saying that so you can sit with Lily, James?" asked Arabella sweetly. James colored and glared at her.

"Can we?" asked Sirius hopefully. He looked mighty tired from all the searching.

"Sure, why not?" Lily scooted over a seat, as did the rest of the girls.

"Thanks." The boys all sat down, looking exhausted.

As time passed, the train was speeding up quickly. The countryside surroundings had passed and they were going deeper and deeper into a thick forest. Remus, Violet, Jennifer, and Peter were fast asleep, so Lily, Arabella, James, and Sirius started a discussion about Remus' mysterious disappearances.

The girls looked at each other apprehensively. "We—er—know what's wrong with Remus," said Lily uncomfortably.

James and Sirius stared at them. "Well—go on—tell us! We won't care if it's something terrible."

Finally, Lily said, "Remus—Remus is a..." She kept her voice low so only the four of them could hear, "a werewolf."

James and Sirius went pale. Then James shrugged indifferently and said, "How come he's never told us before?"

Arabella was astonished. "You mean, you don't—you don't care?"

The boys were annoyed. "Why would we care? It's not his fault!"

Lily and Arabella looked at each other delightedly. "He never told any of us because he was afraid that we'd dump him as a friend. Of course, we'd never, ever..."

"How'd you girls figure it out?" asked Sirius curiously.

"Lily," answered Arabella simply. "She's the genius, you know."

Lily shrugged. "I just figured out that Remus leaves at every full moon, and the only thing that does that is a werewolf. Jen and Violet know to. Bit of a nasty shock for Jen at first, but she was only wondering, like yourselves, why Remus never told any of us."

"Remus is a great friend, he doesn't think we're that shallow, does he?"

"Many people are frightened of werewolves, you know."

"But—we're still his friends—"

"All right, end of discussion!" said Arabella loudly, causing both Remus and Peter to stir. Remus sat up, rubbing his eyes, and glancing around at all the serious faces.

"What is this, a funeral?" he asked, trying to make a joke out of it. When he saw that no one laughed or budged, he asked, "why the long faces?"

"Why didn't you ever tell us, Remus?" asked James quietly.

"Tell you what?" asked Remus, confused.

"Tell us that you're a werewolf," finished Arabella quietly.

Remus nearly fell out of his seat. "How did you...how did you..." he spluttered.

"Mostly thanks to Lily," informed Jennifer coolly. 

Remus was shaking harder than ever. Lily's face softened and she frowned at the angry James and Sirius and nudged them hard in the ribs.

"Remus," she began gently, "we don't care if you're a werewolf. You're still the same sweet Remus we've all known, and it doesn't make much of a difference what you are." 

"But..." Remus looked around at James, Sirius, and Peter, and they were all grinning. Then he looked over to the girls and they were smiling as well. 

"I thought I'd lose you guys as friends," he said slowly. "I mean, I've never really had friends before because my whole neighborhood knew that I was a werewolf, so they forbid the children to go near me. Not that any of the kids wanted to; they were afraid of me, too. So when I came to Hogwarts, I found you guys and you all are the best friends I've ever had. So if you found out...what I was, you'd dump me."

"We'd never," the seven chorused together serious. Even Sirius was looking solemn for a moment.

Remus grinned. "You guys are the best."

"You mean _the girls_ are the best," corrected Lily, grinning in feigned mock shock.

"The girls are the best, then," he said, smiling widely at his friends' shocked faces. 

"Boys are better than girls and you know it," retorted Sirius, pretending to be angry with Lily.

"Aww...you know Bella can change your perspective on anything," mocked Violet. They all looked at her in surprise. Violet was usually the quiet and sensible one of the lot.

"Good job, Violet," lauded Jennifer. "Soon you can properly mock the dog-boy."

The four girls burst out laughing, and even the boys sniggered. Sirius flushed.

"Hey, at least half my gang aren't _flowers_," he said quickly.

Lily and Violet looked at each other. It was true, but they had never noticed it before. 

Then Arabella spoke up, smiling flirtatiously at Sirius. "Sirius, dear, you really must calm yourself down. These are my _friends_ you're mocking!"

Sirius gave a low bow. "But of course, m'dear Figg."

Everyone laughed. Then their compartment door slid open and Severus Snape came in with Rosier, Avery, Lestrange, Wilkes, and one other boy with slick blond hair that they didn't know. Snape was looking very authoritative and oily as he entered.

"My dear Lily," he began, smirking. "Wouldn't you like to join us?"

Lily stared at Snape wearily. "_No_ thank you, Severus. I'd rather hang with my friends, if you'd be so kind..."

"Told you this wouldn't work, Severus," muttered the blonde boy. "What were you thinking anyway?"

"L-Lily's nice," stuttered Snape. "Better than most Gryffindors, anyway."

Lily stood up angrily. "Is that what you think of me as, Snape? Just 'better than most Gryffindors'? Well, let me tell you something! If you're not sticking around here to be friendly, then _leave_." 

The rest of the friends stared at the redhead. They had never seen her temper rise like that – not even with James. 

Avery stiffened. "Come, Snape, Lucius, we're not sticking here to associate with Mudbloods."

James jumped and whipped out his wand. "What did you call her?"

Avery sneered. "A Mudblood. Got a problem with that, Potter?"

"It's not a problem _I_ only have. It's a problem that nearly the whole school would have, if they heard you – except with your dirty House, of course."

Lestrange stood right in front of Avery and narrowed his eyes at the black-haired boy. "Slytherin is not a dirty House, Potter. For your information, I think that your stupid House, Gryffindor, should really be eliminated from Hogwarts. There's really no need to have Mudbloods in the school. Oh, and your headmaster should be rid of too – the nasty Mudblood and Muggle-lover, Dumbledore."

Sirius suddenly stood up and shook with anger. "Don't you dare insult Dumbledore! He's the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had! So who do you idiots want as headmaster? Barty Crouch?"

Wilkes, who was watching the conversation, spat, "Of course not, he's outspoken against the Dark Side, that's not we want –" He was cut off by a distinct "Shh!" from his friends.

"Trying to get Lily to join your precious Dark Side, are you?" shouted Arabella. "Well, I won't have any of that!" She furiously drew out her wand and pointed it at the Slytherins. A few red and gold sparks shot out of them and the sulking Slytherins left the compartment. 

"That was brilliant, Bella dear!" cried Sirius. "Those good for nothing ba—"

James coughed, knowing that Sirius was going to let his language get the better of him. Sirius blushed and said quickly, "Er—sorry 'bout that."

"I'm glad that we won't be seeing much of _them_ at Hogwarts," said Jennifer defensively.

"There's still Double Potions," said Lily moodily. Everyone groaned. 

"And we have to eat meals in the same place as them," added Peter.

"Peter!" they all shouted.

"Oops, sorry." 

The eight of them all laughed again, waiting for a fresh new year to start at Hogwarts.

***

"Look at this! A week after school starts and our homework pile is piling up!" complained James Potter, throwing up his hands in frustration. "How does Evans finish all this?"

"She doesn't procrastinate like you do, Jamie-boy," said a work-absorbed Sirius Black lazily, as he tried to concentrate on remembering all the Potions antidotes. Finally, he threw up his hands in the air like James had done, causing the new first years to be startled.

"God, Hurst is trying to kill us, he is! How does he expect me to remember all these?" Sirius shoved a long piece of parchment into James, revealing a whole long list of complicated Potions antidotes.

"He doesn't," said James. "He's just trying to make everything harder so that we can all fail. Then when he sees the Slytherins failing, he can just change their answers so it'll look like they memorized them better than us. 'Course, Evans isn't clever enough to figure this out so she studies anyway."

"Stupid git," muttered Sirius. James looked delighted.

"You mean Evans?"

"No, you moron, I was talking about Hurst!"

"Oh." James sounded dejected and went back to scanning his own Potions notes.

"Hey Jamie-boy, can I borrow your Potions notes?" asked Sirius, after a while of silence.

"Why?" asked James suspiciously. "Don't you have your own?"

"Of course I do," snapped Sirius. "I just want to use yours, since I take the worst notes in Potions. In fact"—he showed James his Potions 'notes'—"I don't really have much on those stupid antidotes."

"Sirius, you don't have _anything_ on them!" cried James. "What do you do all Potions class? Drool at Arabella?"

"Pretty much."

"Wait 'till Evans hears this and she'll have a fit."

"I'm so scared."

"Yeah right you are."

"Hey, Lily has a pretty high temper gauge, you know!"

"I know," said James, wincing, as he remembered several painful experiences.

"Will you guys shut up for a minute?" hissed Remus, impatiently, rubbing his forehead in concentration. "I'm trying to memorize these antidotes here!"

"Sorry, Remus," apologized James. "But don't you realize what Hurst is trying to make us do?"

"Fail?" suggested the tired boy.

"Exactly. So we shouldn't study!"

"Er—right."

"I think that you should study for everything," said a stern voice from behind them. A weary-looking redhead was glaring at the four boys.

"Hi Lily!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "How're you doing today?"

"Fine," was all Lily managed to say, before she glared at James.

"You would do a bit better if you actually studied," she snapped ferociously.

James was taken aback. "Aww, come _on_ Lily, you think the high and mighty James Potter would actually study?"

"No. But you should...if you're going to pass the second year." Lily smirked.

"I'm calling Deanna!" whined James.

Lily snorted. "Think again, boy, because Deanna's with another boy now." She pointed to a corner of the common room, where Deanna was flirting with a blushing fourth year.

"Who's that?" snarled James.

"I think that's Kevin Patil," replied Remus, squinting at the couple.

"You should've paid more attention to her, Jamie-boy. Now she's dumped you for that fourth year."

"Whatever." James looked extremely put-off at the prospect of a girl dumping him, but began to hyperventilate at the announcement of Quidditch try-outs at the end of the week.

"We certainly need better players!" he roared enthusiastically, as he dragged Sirius to the battered bulletin board. They were in need of one Chaser, one Beater, and a Keeper, since the three of those players who played last year graduated from Hogwarts.

"Quidditch," said James loudly, so that Lily could hear him, "is something that Evans cannot do."

"Shut up, Potter," snapped Lily grumpily, as she studied her Potions notes again.

"Evans insulted me!" cried James, causing several girls to look up and glare at Lily.

"Potter is an egotistical idiot," muttered Lily, before retiring to her dormitory for the night. Arabella followed her, but shot daggers at James before walking up the staircase.

Sirius frowned after her. "Now look what you did, Jamsie. The girls are turning against us."

"Shh! Sirius, I have a brilliant plan to help Remus."

Sirius' eyes widened. "How?" he whispered excitedly.

James showed him his careful Transfiguration notes that he took that day and whispered excitedly, "Animagi."

The two began whispering and plotting excitedly until Peter stepped up to them, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

The two boys looked at each other and let Peter in on the conversation. After what seemed like hours of plotting, they decided to wake up Remus and tell him their "ingenious" plan.

"Remus!" The three boys shook Remus, who was asleep in an armchair by the fire.

"Wha—What?" he murmured sleepily. The boys then began discussing their plan to Remus, who listened, wide-eyed.

"You mean—become Animagi? For...for _me_?"

"Of course," stated James. "Why is that so unusual?"

"You'd really do that for me?" 

"'Course." The three boys nodded in assent.

Remus broke into a true smile that lit up his whole face. "You guys are the best friends anyone could ever have."

***

It was just another day in Gryffindor Tower with Lily Evans and James Potter screaming the House down. Their friends sighed, knowing that there was no way they'd get together—even as friends.

"When do you think they'll become friends?"

"Never, I expect."

"For some reason, I can imagine them both being Head Boy and Girl."

"Funny really—that _is_ imaginable."

The six friends were huddled together in a plot to get Lily and James as friends. Arabella, who knew Lily all too well, and Sirius, who knew James all too well, said that it was impossible.

"They'll get along in their fourth or fifth year," said Arabella lazily, yawning. "Our Lily is too stubborn. She's one lily that's not lily-like and pure – at least not most of the time."

Meanwhile, Lily and James were on the other side of the common room, screaming at each other as usual.

"If you didn't dye my hair blue, then I wouldn't have poured black ink on your Transfiguration homework! Besides, you should be grateful it was a subject you're decent at; if it was Charms, then you'd take all night to re-do it!"

"Why can't you be like the other girls?" shot back James. "Then you wouldn't want revenge from me all the time!"

"Because I don't want to be 'another flower of the valley'!" shouted Lily. "Do you want me to be someone like Deanna?"

"Good point," muttered Sirius from the armchair.

"I HEARD THAT SIRIUS BLACK!" yelled James, who suddenly cast his attention on his best friend.

Arabella tutted loudly. "And to think he could hear with all that commotion he's making."

"I'M WARNING YOU FIGG! ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL..."

They heard Lily giggle. "Come on, Potter, you're scaring the common room." She nudged her head to a group of frightened-looking first years and a pair of harassed-looking sixth years.

"Hush Evans," snapped James.

"Ooh, touchy."

"Shut it, Evans," repeated James, growling.

"Would you tackle a girl?" asked Lily sweetly, batting her eyelashes at James.

"If it was someone like you, yes."

"That hurts."

"Good."

"Would you really hurt a lady?" asked Lily, pouting. Boys around the common room were staring at Lily intensely. 

"Stop staring!" hissed Arabella, waving her arm around the common room. 

"And if you think my Bella's pretty, she's already taken," added Sirius.

Remus and Jennifer burst out laughing, and Violet smiled. 

"You guys are crazy," stated Lily, collapsing into a squashy armchair by the fire, looking tired.

"Hey Evans, tired of our fight?" called James, smirking.

"Yeah, Potter, I'm tired of looking at your face the whole time," replied Lily wearily, with a huge grin on her face.

James frowned. "Hey!"

"Yeah...you'll improve if you'd actually brush your hair once a week." The girls giggled and James was angry.

"Hey, you try to brush down hair like mine! It runs in the family!"

"And to think why girls fall for you," said Lily, pretending to sigh with confusion.

"Hey Lil, you said yourself that you thought James was cute and that you knew why girls were all over him," said Sirius suddenly, his eyes gleaming. He winked at James from across the common room and James' frown slowly turned into a smile again.

"I was still a first year," snapped Lily impatiently. "Besides, you guys should be working on the homework Professor McGonagall gave us; it's not going to do it itself—"

"—unless you do it for us," finished James with an air of triumph.

"How about this for an answer—_no_." 

"I'll do your Transfiguration homework if you do my Charms."

Lily thought for a minute. "No."

"Come _on_, you're almost as bad as Violet at the subject."

"Hey!" cried Violet. "I'm not that horrible, you're just—"

"Shut it, Potter, I'm not that bad. At least—I'm behind Remus on it."

"Peter's better," sniggered Sirius.

Lily glared at him. "You're supposed to be on my side Black! You Benedict Arnold!"

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Benedict _who_?"

"Never mind, Muggle stuff."

"Benedict Arnold was a traitor for the American Revolution," piped up Remus. Everyone around the room stared at him and he cowered lower. "Er—I read Muggle books," he supplied hopefully.

"Please enlighten us _Professor_ Lupin!" squeaked James.

Remus stared at him. "Professor Lupin? Where'd that come from?"

James shrugged. "Evans and I saw this thing that Dumbledore had that showed some of the future, and you were the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. And you, Sirius"—he looked around at his friend—"you're some kind of an infamous person, because whenever people said your name, they shivered and frowned."

"Cool!" said Sirius enthusiastically.

"It is not cool, Sirius," said Lily, joining in the conversation. "Even"—she shuddered—"even the Harry kid, who's supposed to be our son, called you 'Black'. And James said he wanted you as godfather!"

Sirius frowned. "Really?"

"Yep."

"So..."

"You're probably in Azkaban and then escaped," put in James.

Lily shot him a nasty look. "That's something nice to think about."

"Isn't it? Sirius Black, the most infamous prisoner Azkaban has ever held! Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Sirius Black...hey, you know, Sirius-boy, your name even sounds like a criminal one!"

"Er—right. And what's up with Sirius-boy? That's one hell of a lame nickname, Jamie-boy."

"See! See! You call me Jamie-boy, so I…" James trailed off, grinning evilly. "How about Siri-boy?"

"I like it!" exclaimed Arabella, who suddenly had awaken from being asleep on their conversation. "It has a nice ring to it...Siri-boy."

"Bells." Sirius pouted.

Lily smiled and ruffled Sirius' trim black hair. "Well, I better get back to work. Got that nasty Transfiguration essay to do." She groaned and went back to her table, which was spread out with heaps of parchment and heavy books.

Arabella saw James glaring at Sirius with jealousy and teased, "Aww...jealous, are we?"

James' head immediately shot back to her. "Jealous?"

"You're jealous that Lily ruffled Sirius' hair. You want Lillian to do it to you, do you?" 

James blushed, though it was true. For some reason, he always felt as though he should pull a prank or tease Lily when she was around, while he didn't feel anything when other girls were around.

"Considering, are we?" Arabella smirked.

"Considering to tell you (1) you're an idiot or (2) you're a mind-reader."

"Option 2 is a nice choice," said Arabella, grinning devilishly. "So...you were thinking that Lily is a gorgeous redhead?"

"Eh…no."

Arabella snorted and muttered something like "egotistical idiot". Then she leaned over and whispered into James' ear, "Go to Lily and tell her that I have something to tell her."

James was annoyed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because…I'll give you a hug. Or a kiss."

"That makes me even more disgusted."

"Okay fine, do it and I'll give you five Knuts."

"You're on!" Then James scuttled towards Lily, who was writing her last sentence, finishing her Transfiguration essay.

"Hey Evans."

Lily looked up. "What do you want, Potter? Come to bother me again."

"Er—actually, Figg over there wants to talk to you."

"Oh. And you did this for her? Aww…you have a little crush on my best friend?"

James made a face. "_No._ Because she'd pay me five Knuts if I did it for her."

Lily gave a disappointed sigh. "All right then." She left her Transfiguration essay on the table, the ink still glistening, and went to find Arabella. "And don't you dare touch my essay, Potter! If you mess it up, you'll have to write it again for me!"

James, indeed, was planning to ruin Lily's essay, but a thought of doom occurred to him. If he _did_ destroy it, Evans would make him rewrite the essay for her. And if he refused, she'd try and curse him, but if he still refused to write that essay...then she'd probably tell McGonagall. And McGonagall liked Evans better.

"Fine, I won't ruin it!" yelled James. 

Lily smirked and focused her attention on Bella again. "What is it you want to tell me, Bells?"

Arabella looked around the common room to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Then, satisfied, she smiled at Lily serenly.

"How about we get Remus and Jennifer together?"

Lily's rosy mouth opened in surprise, but it quickly parted into an evil grin identical to the one Arabella was wearing on her face. "You're on, girl."

"And then they could help me get you and James together."

"You will _not_ do that Arabella Figg! Or I won't help you get Jen and Remus together."

Arabella sighed. "Oh fine, I won't. But it was a nice thought at first."

^^^

So…how did you like this chapter? I though it was a bit weird, and sorry if I didn't include much of the summer! I want to keep this story a bit brief, since I have my story "Red Footprints" that I'm working on, too. So I apologize if you wanted to read the summer, but I _promise_ that I'll include more of it in the third year. 

****

Disclaimer: God, how many more of these do I have to do? All right, J.K. Rowling owns everything; I'm just a lesser mortal who wants to write a story of Harry's parents. Fine, even the characters I made up can be hers! I own NOTHING! My name just happens to be the author of the story, but it's really her creation. LOL! I know, I'm an idiot, but so what?

Everyone read Louisa Potter's story, "Lily Evans Potter"! It's awesome! :D

I'll get the next chapter ready by next week or the week after! Hey, winter break is almost over, don't kill me! :P 

Oh, and also read Saralea's stories, too! They're great too! In fact, check out all my favorite stories (they're all L/J ones, by the way), and read them! I have good taste :) Just don't read 'em if you don't like romance, especially L/J ones. I'm a hopeless romantic :D 


	5. Second Year: Part Two

Year Two – Part Two

Lily poked James and hissed, "Slow down, would you?"

James smiled at Lily, flashing his white teeth. "Of course. I wouldn't dream of disappointing such a lovely angel." 

Lily rolled her eyes. "Shut up Potter, and please look where you're going."

"As you wish, m'dear." He gave a small, mock bow, causing Arabella and Sirius to trip over each other.

"James!" they both hissed angrily.

"Sorry," he muttered apologetically.

"Bells, why the hell did you let the boys get into this? It was supposed to be only me, you, and Violet!"

"Er—Sirius accidentally overheard me plotting," admitted Arabella. "But I swear I thought no one was eavesdropping!"

"I hear someone coming," said Sirius suddenly. 

"That must be Violet and Peter distracting them!" whispered Lily.

"I still don't get the plan," said James irritably.

Lily sighed. "All right, I'll say it just _one_ more time. Violet and Peter are distracting Remus and Jenny. Then we'll get back to the corridors and appear out of nowhere, so they won't get too suspicious. Since today's Saturday and there aren't any classes, we'll just walk up to the Astronomy Tower…I think that must be deserted. We leave them there, and…well, we'll just wait for how the conversation is going. Of course, we have to lock the door and put the charm to repel the '_Alohomora_' spell."

"That's lame."

"Do you have a better idea then, Potter?"

"Yes, I do."

"What is it, then?"

"The same as yours, except make them get pushed so they can kiss."

"Ugh!" exclaimed Arabella. "That's something Sirius and I'd do if we were matchmaking you two!"

"You're going to _what_?"

"Er—nothing."

"Evil gits," muttered Lily, but loud enough for Arabella to hear. 

They crouched down in a small corner, listening to Violet and Peter holding them off.

"What were you saying about the Astronomy Tower, Vi?" they heard Jennifer say.

"Maybe we can meet there," said Violet.

"Why? It's three o'clock in the afternoon! There aren't any stars or anything?"

"Maybe we can, well, see the whole view of Hogwarts and maybe take some pictures," suggested Peter awkwardly.

"That's the best idea Peter's come up with in a while," mumbled Lily from inside the cloak. James nudged her hard in the ribs and muttered for her to keep quiet.

They heard Remus say, "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Then the footsteps slowly disappeared through the corridor.

"Come on, hurry!" whispered Lily urgently.

The four of them were running as fast as they could without revealing any body part. They reached the Charms corridor and saw the other four coming toward them.

When Jennifer saw them, she said, "Hi guys! What a coincidence it is to meet you here! But then again, this is the most direct way to the Astronomy Tower." She chuckled lightly.

"I was just seeing Professor Flitwick for a quick second, and the others wanted to come along too," replied Lily, carefully treading on James' feet.

"Where are you all going?" piped up Sirius.

"Astronomy Tower," said Jennifer, beaming. "Want to come?"

"Sure!" the four chorused together.

"So what do we do now?" hissed James from the corner of his mouth, when Jennifer and Remus were out of earshot. 

"Let them into the Astronomy Tower first. Then put the _Alohomora _repel charm on the door."

"Should we go in with them?"

"Of course not, silly! Then _we'd_ be stuck in the Tower forever too!"

"God, don't be so touchy, it was just a question."

They had reached the Astronomy Tower. Jennifer and Remus went in first, and Lily quickly muttered the repel charm. They heard voices in the tower as Jennifer and Remus cried in surprise when there was no one behind them.

"Hey, aren't you guys coming?" called Jennifer.

"Nah, we'll just stay out here."

"Then we're coming too!"

"Suit it yourself," said Lily, secretly smirking. Then the six of them outside heard two outraged voices.

"Lil, I can't open the door!"

They heard Remus trying to bang it open. "What the heck did you do, James?" he roared.

"You guys need some time alone," said Arabella, grinning and winking at the rest of them.

"Whose idea was this?" It was Jennifer's voice, which sounded like a mixture of anger and sadness.

"The girls!" the boys immediately chimed in.

"Lily…Bella…Vi…I'll get you for this," Jennifer choked from inside the Tower. "This is so embarrassing! You know how much I like Remus, and that he doesn't like me the same way back. This is the most humiliating moment of my life!" They heard a distinct sob break out from the heartbroken girl.

"Jen...I'm so sorry," said Arabella softly. "It's all my idea."

"It was mine too," added Lily sadly. "We both talked Vi into it."

"We'll let you out now," said Violet, starting to cry herself.

"No," they heard Remus' voice say. "Violet and I...need some time alone. To get things straightened out."

"That went well," muttered James. Lily furiously smacked him on the arm.

"Don't, James," she said softly. "I feel bad enough as it is. I can't believe we were so cruel! Oh, I'd hate it if you guys did something like that to me...especially if I really liked the boy but he didn't like me. You know how infatuated Jen is with Remus, but he doesn't return those...feelings. God, it's all my fault!" Lily started crying.

"Shh, it's all right, Lils," whispered Arabella, hugging her friend. "It's my fault, too. I thought of the idea..." Suddenly, all three girls burst out crying.

"Bella, I hear something," said Sirius gently, prodding Arabella. The six of them all pressed their ears against the Tower door eagerly.

"Jennifer, I really do like you," Remus said.

"Really?" It was Jen's voice, full of sorrow and disbelief.

"Of course! I was just afraid—what you'd say when you found out that I was a werewolf."

"Oh Remus, I wouldn't care at all! I really, really do like you!" 

There was a silence, and then a funny kind of noise, that could only be one thing—

"They're kissing!" whispered a tear-streaked Lily gleefully. "Oh, it worked!"

Arabella smiled weakly at her friend. "Well, Lil, I guess it wasn't a total waste."

James flashed a smile at Lily. "Come on, Lily, let's go see Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" repeated Lily. "Why, James?"

He shook his head. "I've been having those nightmares again." They both left for Dumbledore's office.

"James," said Lily quietly, "I've been having those nightmares too. What do you think they mean? About us...dying?"

"I honestly don't know," admitted James. He had said the password and entered the headmaster's office.

"Ah, James, Lily, I wasn't expecting you." Dumbledore smiled. "Is anything the matter?"

"The nightmares are coming back," said Lily.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I think you two should—travel into the future for a few minutes."

They both looked at each other in shock. "The future? But why, Professor?"

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, I am no Seer. Unfortunately, our Divination teacher isn't exactly what you'd call—er—useful in this situation. So I will allow you to time-travel into the future for a quick few minutes. But remember this: You are not to be seen. If you are to be seen and recognized, your past, present, and future will be destroyed. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore pulled out a small pocket watch. It looked like a Time Turner, but it was facing the opposite way. He instructed, "Put this around both your necks, and turn it five times. It will send you to the future. Then, when you're ready to get back, turn the watch five times again. But please—be careful, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans. And don't stay too long. Remember: you must not be seen."

Lily carefully took the pocket watch from Dumbledore and placed it around her neck, and around James'. She turned the watch five times, and there was a large gust of wind blowing the two around. Images went past like a blur and they landed with a soft 'thump!' in the Charms corridor.

"Where the hell—?" began James, but Lily cut him off.

"Quick, Potter, we can't be seen, remember?"

"Stop worrying, Evans," said James smoothly. "I've got my Invisibility Cloak, remember?" He took the folded cloak from his pocket and draped it over the two of them.

"Someone's coming!" whispered Lily.

The same three teenagers they saw in the crystal ball and glass were walking down the Charms corridor, oblivious to the fact that the famous Lily and James Potter were hidden under an Invisibility Cloak, watching and following them.

"That Snape!" raged the red-haired boy. "Can you believe sprouting up a test like that? In the middle of December? We're on holidays, for heaven's sake!"

"Oh, for goodness' sake Ron, it's not like you _ever_ study, anyway," snapped the brown-haired girl. 

"At least you don't have that egg clue to work out," said Harry quietly.

"Yeah...I guess I should've showed more consideration," admitted Ron.

"And Snape hates me more than any other student he has," added Harry.

"Why?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Because he hated my dad."

James let out a sharp intake, and Lily nudged him. 

"Ow!" he cried. "What was that for?"

"Did you hear something?" asked Harry suddenly, turning around. He was nearly ten feet away from Lily and James, who were trying to not even breath at that point.

"Sounded like your voice," said Ron, frowning.

"But I didn't say anything."

"Oh, for God's sake, you two are acting as if you'd seen a ghost! It's probably just Peeves bothering Filch in the next corridor."

"She sounds just like you," muttered James from beneath the cloak.

"Shut up, Potter. That Ron kid is sort of like Sirius, don't you think?"

"I'm like Harry."

"Duh, stupid, he's your son!"

"_Now_ I hear something weird!" exclaimed Ron, turning around like Harry had done. "Maybe someone stole your Invisibility Cloak, Harry!"

Harry laughed. "Only Snape and Malfoy know I have the cloak, and they can't get into Gryffindor Tower."

"Yeah...but Sirius got into the Tower last year, remember, Harry?" said Hermione.

__

Now they're speaking about Sirius in a more – relaxing and friendly tone. I wonder why that is, thought James.

"That's because Neville was too thick and left the week's passwords lying around!" said Ron, before Harry could reply.

"I don't know why you hate Neville so much! He's just a bit—dim, that's all."

They heard and saw Ron snort. 

"That kid's definitely like Sirius. Why else would Harry be best friends with him? They're like a future James Potter and Sirius Black!" said James gleefully.

"Are we actually agreeing on something here, Potter?" asked Lily dryly.

"Miraculously, for the first time in history, I must say we are, Evans," replied James, just as dryly.

"Have you heard from Sirius yet, Harry?" asked Hermione anxiously. The three friends seemed to lean closer and huddled together. Harry peered around to see if anyone was watching.

"Not yet," he said in a low voice. "Sirius told me to write to him if anything suspicious is going on. The last time I got a letter from him was when the first task was over."

"He'd hear about that, anyway," said Ron, grinning. "Famous Harry Potter, the quickest to get the golden egg from the deadly Hungarian Horntail. I swear, Fudge is probably posting it all over the newspapers."

"Oh, shut up," snapped Harry in a friendly way.

"We should be getting back to Gryffindor Tower," said Hermione suddenly. "We wouldn't want Snape to catch us again; he'd probably do anything to take off fifty points from Gryffindor. And you two should be studying for the Potions test."

"Oh, there's plenty of time," yawned Ron lazily. "But you're right, we should get back. The day Snape is fired will be the day I will never complain again." The trio left for Gryffindor Tower on the fifth floor, distinct chuckles heard.

"We'd better get back now," murmured Lily. She turned the pocket watch five times, and they were suddenly back in Dumbledore's office.

"How did it go?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"It went fine," answered James. "I'm a bit confused, though."

"Why is that, Mr. Potter?"

"Well, sir—those three were talking about Sirius in a more friendly fashion. Last time they were talking about him, they were practically spitting his name out."

"Ah Mr. Potter, this I cannot tell you, for I do not know myself. It's not good to know too much about the future."

"Harry and Ron are exactly like James and Sirius," put in Lily, frowning.

James grinned. "And that Hermione girl is exactly like Lily. _'You two should be studying for that Potions test. It's not like you ever study anyway'._"

Lily was extremely ruffled. 

Dumbledore smiled and said, "You may leave if you wish, unless if you have any further questions to ask."

They both shook their heads and left the office. They broke into a heated conversation after that.

"Ha! Snape hates Harry because he hates you! You officially gave our son the worst life he can have!" Lily was practically laughing her head off.

"Hey!" said James, pouting. "Besides, who did he live with after...well, you know."

Lily shrugged. "Whoever he lived with, it definitely wasn't with Petunia." She snorted at the thought. "Maybe with Mum and Dad."

"You mean _my_ Mum and Dad," said James indignantly. "How else is he so much like me and nothing like you?"

"Now that's a personal insult! He seems like a kind and loyal boy—better than that barbaric Ron does, at least. I like the looks of that Hermione girl though. She's sort of like Remus; sensible one of the lot."

"She's not like Remus! Remus is a _Marauder_. That Hermione girl is like you! _'I think that you guys should study for everything. Oh, I'm Lily Evans a.k.a. Miss I'm So Wonderful-and-Popular!'"_

"Potter, if you don't shut up..." growled Lily.

"Lils, where were you?" It was Arabella calling, and she was waving her arms frantically. Behind her were Remus and Jennifer, who were giggling over something. James rolled his eyes.

"Remus, not you too!" he whined. "Now I'm officially a bachelor within the group."

"'Course you're not, Jamie-boy, we're strictly on the Marauder to whatever-the-girls'-group-name-is relationship. You have Lily Flower." Sirius was smirking.

"Oh, you're evil, Sirius," sighed Lily.

"There's another thing that Lily and I agree on," added James. "Besides the fact that we both think that Sirius and our son's best friend think and act alike."

"You're having a _son_?" demanded Sirius eagerly. "Am I godfather?"

"Sounded like it," muttered Lily, hearing how in awe Harry was of Sirius.

"What's his name?" asked Jennifer curiously.

"Jennifer Dean and Remus Lupin have officially stopped snogging," announced Sirius, sounding much like he was doing the Quidditch commentary.

"Oh, shut up, you," muttered Remus, turning red.

"His name is Harry Potter," said Lily simply.

"Nice name. I could see that Jamie-boy came up with such a lame one." Sirius ducked as a shower of sparks flew past his face. "Just kidding, Jamie!"

"Has he ever called you 'James' in his life?" asked Violet.

"Not that I know of," said James in disgust.

"There comes Deanna," said Lily, groaning.

Deanna was entering Gryffindor Tower with her new 'boyfriend', Kevin Patil. She gave Lily a warm wave and James a small smile before they headed off to the boys' dormitory. 

"Now _that's_ wrong," commented Jennifer, wrinkling her nose.

"As if you and Remus haven't done that yet," scolded Arabella.

"We _haven't_ actually, and we're not about to, either," retorted Jennifer. Remus himself said nothing.

Lily sighed. "Wonder what they'll give us for our Transfiguration exams this year."

"Oh God, Lil, is homework and exams all you think about?" 

"Oh no, Bella, I think about Potter, too."

"You do?" asked Arabella, her face shining with delight.

"Yeah. How to curse him so that he'll wish he never came to Hogwarts."

"I'd need my magical education anyway, since everyone in my family is magical," said James matter-of-factly.

"Oh, so you're saying that it's more important for purebloods and half-bloods to get a magical education, but not important for Muggle-borns like me?" Lily ran from the common room, crying.

"Go James," muttered Sirius, watching the girl run up the staircase to her dormitory, crying.

"You should have thought twice before saying that, James," said Peter quietly.

"I know, I know, but that's not what I meant. What I meant was that—"

"Go find her, James, and apologize," said Arabella firmly. She wasn't angry, but her face was full of sadness.

James sighed and ran up to find Lily. He found her sobbing on her bed, and when she looked up and saw him, her green eyes had turned a steel cold.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, before James even got to catch his breath. "I know I'm overreacting. But all this—future stuff, it's really scaring me. To know that I'll be married to _you_, and have a son, and then die trying to protect him! It's just—too much to handle."

"I know," whispered James. "Look, don't worry about it, all right? We still five-and-a-half years to go at Hogwarts. Treasure most of it while you can."

Lily smiled, wiping away her tears. "We're still enemies, right?"

"The very best."

And so the other six friends found the two enemies coming down the staircase with grins on their faces.

"So you finally made up, have you? Are you friends now?" Sirius was eagerly pelting them with questions.

"Sirius, we don't hate each other _too_ much anymore, but we're still enemies," said James.

Sirius snorted. "That, Jamie-boy, is the stupidest thing you've said in your whole life. It makes no sense, whatsoever!"

"Well, get over it," said Lily, grinning.

"Are you all right, Lily?" asked Jennifer, concerned. 

"Yeah. I was just a bit—stressed with all this stuff going on. Oh, I just don't know. I just happened to lose my temper just then. Sorry if I frightened any of you."

Peter squeaked. Lily smiled at the poor boy. "It's all right, Pete, I swear I didn't mean any harm." Peter relaxed and reluctantly managed a smile back.

"Lil, you frighten us all the time," informed Arabella, pleased that her friend was cheerful again. "Fiery red hair...deep emerald eyes...it's a matter of seconds when your temper matches your—"

"Enough sap, already!" cried James. "Come on, Siri-boy, we have Quidditch practice."

"Since when?"

"Since Johnson announced it yesterday."

"Oh. Well, all right then. I never knew, that's all. It's not like I listen to that maniac. By God, you'd think Quidditch is the reason to live."

"Didn't you just have Quidditch practice yesterday?" asked Arabella.

"Yeah. Roy's going bonkers, but there's nothing else we can do about it. C'mon Sirius, let's go."

When they left the portrait hole, Sirius frowned at James. "Jamie, we don't have Quidditch practice. What's up with you?"

"We have to continue mixing that Animagi potion, remember? It's going to take us at least three years!"

"Then where's Remus and Peter?"

"They're right in front of you."

True enough, Remus and Peter were waiting patiently for the two boys. 

"So...James. How do you like this—son, of yours?" asked Remus.

"He's cool. But he looks like he's under a lot stress, too."

"I've done a bit of asking myself," said Remus. "He's the famous Harry James Potter, and he's currently one of the four champions in the Triwizard Tournament."

"That hasn't been hosted for centuries!" cried James enviously. "How come they have it then? And how come there are four champions?"

"Looks like someone entered the poor boy by accident," said Remus slowly. "I heard from a Seer."

"Trelawney?" asked Sirius, snorting.

"No, she's the fraud, Sirius, you idiot," snapped James good-naturedly. "It was probably that assistant witch—what's her name? Professor Vilenski?"

(A/N: LOL, Mrs. Vilenski is one of my friend's Science teacher, so...yeah :P)

"Yeah, that's her," said Remus. "She's a really amazing Seer."

"Does Remus fancy her?" teased Sirius.

"_No._"

"What else did she tell you?" asked Peter curiously.

"Nothing much. I don't think she wanted me to know too much about the future."

"Here we are!" shouted James, pointing to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. The four boys hurried inside and began their potion, which was bubbling near one of the stalls.

"I don't understand why we couldn't do this in our dorm," said Sirius, frowning.

"McGonagall would catch us. And besides, the girls come into our dorm all the time; what if they saw us?"

"It wouldn't be much harm, would it?" asked Remus quietly. "After all, they already know that I'm—well, you know."

"Still—those girls are mighty nosy," said James. "Besides, what if Evans sees us? Then she'll lecture us on rule breaking! And this time, it'll be one hundred times worse, because it's breaking the law. Yep, if Evans catches us, we're as good as dead."

"Why can't you and Lily be friends, James?" asked Remus gently. "In fact, you guys would go pretty well together..."

"Remie, not you too," whined James.

"Remie?" asked Remus, raising his eyebrows.

James shrugged. "You need a nickname like the rest of us. Remie fits nicely."

"Well, it's better than Siri-boy."

"Hey!" cried Sirius.

James laughed. "Come on guys, let's get to work.

-

"Where the devil are those boys?" asked Arabella in alarm, as she absently put down another chess piece, losing for the fifth time to Jennifer.

"Probably breaking another school rule," answered Lily spitefully. "Especially Potter. He influences all the Marauders to go breaking rule after rule until every single rule set up in this school is broken."

"He'd make a good Head Boy," said Violet, who was reading a book.

"And you'd make a good Head Girl," added Arabella.

"You guys are hopeless," sighed Lily. "Me and Potter...the Head Boy and Girl? I mean, I suppose me being Head Girl isn't such a ridiculous notion, but James Potter as Head Boy? That's the stupidest idea that's ever been brought up on the face of this earth!"

"He and you are the top students of our second year," said Arabella, shrugging.

"When's Remus going to be back?" asked Jennifer, yawning. They had been sitting in the common room for over two hours doing nothing.

"Is Remus _all_ you think about?" snapped Arabella.

Jennifer blushed. "You think about Sirius every day!"

"Well—that's different. I mean, you're not even that interested in boys. You're all snobby and mean when any boy is around...besides the Marauders, of course. Why's that, huh?"

"Because Remus is the only one for me," said Jennifer dreamily.

"And you were the one who scolded me for being romantic!" said Violet, laughing. 

"Why are you so quiet, Lils?" asked Arabella, after a while.

Lily shrugged. "Oh...I don't know. Just thinking I guess."

"About James Potter?"

"Will you stop all this nonsense about James Potter, already!" Lily had suddenly jumped up, her blazing green eyes in rage. The three other girls cowered in their armchairs, while the rest of the common room stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Sorry," Lily muttered, getting back to her regular position. "I just—well—life isn't easy. All that future stuff about James and I getting married, having a kid, and—dying."

"We know it's tough, Lily," said Bella quietly. "But my mum told me never to be afraid of death. It's just the next big adventure in life."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I just wish Dumbledore would put a memory charm on me so I'd forget all this future stuff."

"Hey girls," greeted Sirius, climbing through the portrait hole. The other three Marauders followed.

"Where _were_ you?" demanded Arabella. "I was worried sick!"

"Quidditch practice, Bella, didn't you hear Jamie-boy?"

"Yeah, but Quidditch practice for _two_ hours?"

Sirius shrugged, desperately fighting to be nonchalant. "Hey, I told you Johnson was a nutter!"

"You got that right," said James, wiping sweat from his brow. "Finally killed us out of our energy, he did."

"Then why were Remus and Peter with you?" asked Jennifer, narrowing her eyes.

"Relax, your precious Remus wasn't harmed," said Sirius smoothly, pointing at a very red Remus. "He and Pete came to watch the Quidditch practice."

"Why so quiet, Lily?" asked James softly, coming up to the silent redhead girl. "It's not about what we saw with the Time-Turner thing, was it?"

"It is," sighed Lily. "I just—can't get over it."

"Don't worry, you will." James patted her cheek lightly and hurried up the staircase to the boys' dorm.

"Humph! I suppose this indicates that Jamie-boy hates Flower," said Sirius, extremely affronted.

"James is really nice," said Lily, absently twirling a lock of her red hair.

"So why are you still enemies?" demanded Sirius.

"Because—it's better to stay that way. 'Sides, we're still pretty mean to each other, so we're not ready for friendship yet. And we do love to play pranks on each other...that's not good for a friendship." Lily smirked.

"Lily Potter, you are an idiot," sighed Arabella, before she realized what she had said.

"It's Lily _Evans_, not Potter, Bella you prat!" cried Lily in relish.

"Lily Potter really has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" asked Vi timidly.

"Argh!" With that, Lily threw her hands up in the air in frustration and left for the girls' dormitory.

"Wonder what's eating them," remarked Arabella, staring at the staircase.

"You, probably," said Sirius, dodging a tackle.

***

"Not him _again_," sighed Lily, staring as Snape hurried over to the Gryffindor table. Her three other friends groaned loudly as well, but the Marauders barely noticed their arch nemesis walk past them. 

"Hello Mudblood," he said, sneering down at Lily. For the first time in her life, she was glad that someone called her a Mudblood. Snape must have gotten over that ridiculous infatuation!

"I never did like you," whispered Snape, his lips touching her ear. "It turned out that Potter had put some sort of spell on me. No wonder why Evan was looking at me like I was insane." He strolled back to the Slytherin table, shooting daggers at James and his friends.

"Nice prank, wasn't it, Evans?" called James, grinning. "God, too bad it only lasts for a year."

"James Potter, I can't believe you'd do something like that!" shrieked Lily.

"I'm really sorry, Lil, but I got too mad at you last year so I had to get back," admitted James. 

Lily froze. He had never called her 'Lil' in her life before. "Well, Jamie-boy, I suppose it'll take a few days for me to forgive you." She gave him a small smile.

Now it was James' turn to be shocked. Lily Evans had never called him Jamie-boy before.

"James Potter, that was seriously a really low joke," said Arabella angrily. 

James shrugged. "Hey, there needed to be some livening up around here! It's always so—serious."

"Hogwarts is like me?" asked Sirius, leaning over to listen to the conversation.

James rolled his eyes. "That's got to be the lamest joke ever, Siri-boy! The old Sirius to serious trick."

"You mean you were the one who made old Snape fall in love with Lily?" he asked in awe. "By golly Jamie, old boy, you're one genius here!" He started cackling in laughter.

"It wasn't too fair, but it is rather amusing all the same," said Remus, smiling a little.

"Come on Bella, don't hold that grudge of yours forever!" cried Sirius. "Don't you think it's just a little bit funny? I mean, it was so obvious that a Slytherin could _never_, in a million years, fall for a Gryffindor."

"It's possible," said Jen, shrugging, as she chewed on a chicken leg. "Of course, it's always possible for enemies to fall for each other too. Take those two for example." She pointed to where Lily and James were sitting. "They're getting married anyway."

"Now Jenny, don't talk with your mouth full," reprimanded Remus playfully.

"Yes, Remie."

"Hey, that's my nickname! You stealer!" cried James, jumping up and down in a frenzy.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, grow up, Potter."

"I'm not the one talking here! Miss Hermione whatever-her-last-name-was."

"Hermione?" repeated Sirius. "Who's that?"

"Oh, one of Harry's best friends, I think," said James. "She's exactly like Lily. _'I think that you should be studying for that Potions test, you two. It's not like you guys ever study anyway, so you may as well. And our O.W.L.S. are coming up soon!_' God, they were still in their fourth year too!" He and Sirius burst out laughing.

"I like the sound of that Ron," remarked Sirius. 

"Harry seems to be—well, not like us," said James thoughtfully. "Dumbledore told me that he was brave, loyal, and kind. He also said that Harry broke as many rules as we did, and got even more points taken off...without even meaning to! He said that Harry breaks so many rules just to keep himself alive. And others."

"He sounds like a dream," said Lily softly. "Risking his life for others! I've always wanted to have a child like that. Even if I can't see it happen," she added.

"Enough gloom!" cried Sirius. "I've had enough bad spirits around here. Jamie, old boy, we haven't pulled a prank in weeks! Soon our name will wear off! We must carry on our legendary name of the Marauders!"

"What should we do?" asked James eagerly.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Come on, Jamie-boy, _you_'re the ringleader of this gang. What should we do?"

"You're the other ringleader," retorted James.

"You're the main one, though."

"Yeah...well, at least it should be on Snape."

"Definitely!"

"You're pulling a prank on Snape?" asked Lily from across the table. "Can I help?"

Sirius looked nervously at James; he and Lily did not see eye to eye. There would probably be another argument in the Great Hall again.

To his surprise, James had replied, "Sure, why not?"

"What about us?" asked Arabella, frowning.

"All right then, all eight of you are helping!" exclaimed James, his hands sweeping over the Marauders and girls.

They left the Great Hall for Gryffindor Tower, and were one of the first people in the common room. They were plotting the prank on Snape and his gang of Slytherins.

"First, you and Bella have to...I don't know, intimidate them or something," said James, speaking in a low tone. "Then Remus, Jennifer, Violet, and Peter, you guys have to distract the rest of Slytherin House and maybe get them all up in their dormitories somehow. Sirius and I will make their homework all blank."

"Oh, even Hurst will blow when they don't have their Potions homework!" said Sirius gleefully.

"This plan is brilliant!" whispered Lily hoarsely. "It was all my idea of course...and Sirius'," she added, as an afterthought, watching Sirius' face distort in fury.

"Nah, it was actually mine, Evans," snapped James. Lily laughed.

"Yeah, I know. It's fun to see boys get so worked up over a simple thing."

"It wasn't simple, it was—"

James, however, was cut off by none other than Deanna Jackson, who was holding hands with Kevin Patil. "Hello James," she said generously.

"Hello Deanna," said James, rather coldly. "If you don't mind, we're a bit preoccupied right now."

"So you have made up with Lily?" Her voice was disgustingly sugary.

James glared at her. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? You guys are always hanging out with each other...flirting..." She smirked.

"_Flirting_?" cried Lily, standing up. "We _never_ flirt!"

Deanna shrugged, flashing one of her smiles. "Say whatever you want, but it's true. Come on, Kevin, let's go." She and Kevin disappeared to the other side of the common room.

"What was the girl thinking about me and James flirting?" demanded Lily, sitting down again. 

"Well, as much as I'm not too fond of Deanna, it's true, Lily," admitted Jennifer.

"Is it?" Lily's face was livid with anger.

"Er—"

"Violet? You're the one who has common sense in this group. What do you think?"

Violet was bright red. "I-I'm not sure," she stumbled.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, forget about it. That Deanna is an idiot, anyway. Well, what are we waiting for, let's go!"

-

"Snapie!" Lily and Arabella were practically skipping across the Slytherin Common Room, watch Snape and his gang's eyes widen.

"Evans," he said coolly. "What the heck are you doing in _our_ common room?"

"Yeah, no Mudbloods allowed," snapped Lestrange coldly.

Lily shrugged. "Oh...I'm having trouble in Potions and Professor Hurst told me to come here and let you fellows help me and Arabella. So...will you?"

"Oh, if it's Professor Hurst's wishes," said Snape, sighing. 

Lily grinned. This was going to be easier than she thought, since Snape wasn't questioning her. He absolutely adored Hurst and would listen to anything he says to do.

"Great! Oh...shoot, I forgot all my Potions things! You wouldn't mind explaining to me about Shrinking Solutions, would you?" She had only brought parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill, and pretended to listen while Snape droned on about the boring Shrinking Solution, the ingredients, what it would do to you, and the side effects.

Meanwhile, Arabella was desperately trying to entertain the rest of Snape's gang.

"Aren't you Black's girlfriend?" asked Avery, narrowing his eyes at the brown-curled girl.

"Er—I suppose you can say that," mumbled Arabella.

"Humph! Leave her be, Avery, she's a pure-blood, at least," said Wilkes, examining Arabella closely.

"Have you taken a liking to the Mudblood's best friend, Wilkes?" snapped Rosier, who was silent most of the time.

"Of course not," stammered Wilkes. Then he sneered. "Becoming friends with a Mudblood makes even the pure-blooded lower." They all laughed, including Snape, who was still lecturing Lily on the potion.

"I suppose _you_ people think you're so superior because you're all pureblooded? I'm disgusted." Arabella made a face and glared at Snape's gang of Slytherins.

Over on the other side of the Slytherin common room, Remus, Jennifer, Violet, and Peter were trying to herd all the Slytherins back to their dormitories.

"I don't know how you were invited, Lupin, but I assure you, I'm not missing anything for Potions," snapped a third-year Slytherin. "I don't see why you're even here with your little friends. I thought only Evans was being tutored over there."

The four of them looked at each other. Then Jennifer said, "Well...we can't do much harm coming here, can we?"

"Who knows what you Gryffindor scumbags can do," the Slytherin sneered.

"Gryffindors are NOT scumbags!" cried Violet.

The same Slytherin snorted. "You're the Walker girl aren't you? A pureblood, eh? I suppose your mother died of shame when you were put into that dirty House, Gryffindor. Your mother was a Slytherin, wasn't she? I thought so...my mother said that she and Mrs. Walker were best friends when they were at school. So, why did your mother marry that scumbag Gryffindor?"

Violet was shaking with anger. Everyone, even Snape, had stopped to see what the commotion was. The Gryffindors in the room were stunned. Violet was always the quiet and sweet one, but they knew what happened when her family was insulted.

"How—how dare you call my father a scumbag! You dirty Slytherin! No, my mother was proud when I was put into Gryffindor like my father! Mum told me she was ashamed of herself when she was put into Slytherin. She said she shamed the whole family! And she started crying and hugging me when she found out that I wasn't put into her old House. Mum herself said it was a dirty, no-good, low House! So there!" Violet stopped to catch her breath.

Everyone stared at Violet. Even James and Sirius, who were so excited about their prank, had completely forgotten why they were there. Lily had gotten up, gathered her things, and turned to leave the Slytherin common room. The others followed shortly.

"Vi...I'm really sorry," muttered Lily, as they got out of the dungeons. "I shouldn't have talked you into this."

Violet smiled. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. I wanted to come. Besides, it's nice to get that off your chest. I've been meaning to shout it into the Slytherins' faces ever since the first day of Hogwarts. I'm real glad that I did, too."

"It's all true, isn't it?" asked Arabella quietly. "Your—your mum was in Slytherin?"

Violet sighed. "Yeah. Mum was put into Slytherin because she was real ambitious. Her whole family went back to a long line of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, so she shamed our family. But then Mum fell in love with Dad, who was in Gryffindor. Said she never met a man so fine before. They got married, and her family didn't bother her about being in Slytherin again." Then she raised her eyebrows at James and Sirius and said, "You guys didn't pull that prank, did you?"

James shook his head. "We totally forgot about it."

"It's all right. There are still plenty of times you can do it." Her eyes had a strange mischievous glint in them.

Lily grinned. "You know what, Vi? I think that we can all make a great prankster out of you." Then they all laughed and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

^^^

*sigh* Yeah, I know, this chapter is a bit…boring. Oh well :P I'm under stress right now, so don't bother me for the next chapter. That reminds me—more of you people have to review this story or else I am seriously considering to stop writing this story. So come on people, bring on the reviews! 

****

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff; J.K. Rowling owns everything.

Yay! I can't wait until the fifth Harry Potter book, **_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_** arrives on June 21st! :)


	6. Second Year: Part Three

Year Two – Part Three

Arabella sighed dramatically. "You know...I'd like to meet Harry."

Lily's eyes widened. "You'd like to _what_?"

"Meet Harry."

"But—you can't do that!" 

"Why not?"

"He's from the future, Bells. What would he do when he sees his deceased mother and father standing right next to him, thirty years younger? I tell you, he'd faint and die!"

Arabella snorted. "Yeah, yeah. It was just a thought. He seems like a good kid."

"Since he's been running from that—well, that wizard who tried to kill him for practically his whole life, yeah."

"I'm guessing he didn't live with Sirius then?"

"Er—don't think so. Whoever he lived with, I hope he was happy there."

There was a sudden boom as the portrait hole swung open. James barged in, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Evans!" he shouted. "Get over here!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "What's eating him?"

"You haven't played any pranks on him, have you?"

"Please, Bella, I haven't done one on him for two months. What do you expect?" But she walked towards James, startled by his anger.

"James Potter, what the heck is wrong with you?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" He was shaking with anger. "I just came back from Dumbledore's office, and guess who and where Harry's going to live with after we die? Your sister, Petunia!"

Lily's mouth dropped wide open. "You—you're joking."

"No, I'm not," he replied flatly. "It's the truth."

"What could possess us to not give Harry to Sirius...or Remus? Or one of my friends? Why _Petunia_, of all the people?"

James shrugged. "Dumbledore has his reasons."

Lily glared at him. "You always say that. I suppose you're right, though, the man does have his reasons. Brilliant wizard, though a bit off his rocker."

"He wouldn't tell me who murdered us," persisted James.

"Why not?"

"It'll affect the future. Besides, he's going to put a Memory Charm on us to forget about all this stuff anyway. And the charm is going to be on the people who know about Harry and all that stuff in the future."

Lily sighed. "I've always wanted to meet Hermione."

James snickered. "Yeah, seeing that you're her replica in the past. All she worries about is studying, too! Harry and Ron are more sensible."

"Oh really?"

"Of course. I've been observing and thinking about them, and they remind me a lot of Sirius and me. They're really close—closer than brothers."

"Poor dear—he needs love in his life," said Lily, sighing once more. "I'm really glad that Professor Dumbledore told us that a lot of people care for him in the absence of us."

James rolled his eyes. "Everyone's a 'poor dear' to you."

"Everyone except you," snapped Lily.

"Hey Lily, when's our next Potions test?" mimicked James.

"Argh! James Potter, SHUT UP!"

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall barged into Gryffindor Tower. All the students looked stunned as she stared around wildly.

"All right, Potter, Black, which one of you did it?"

James and Sirius looked at each other, bewildered. "We—we didn't do anything, Professor McGonagall."

McGonagall snorted. "Yes, yes, I've heard that before. Now, which one of you did it?"

"Did _what_, exactly?"

Professor McGonagall stared suspiciously at them. She took out her wand, muttered a few words, and James and Sirius began talking loudly in front of the whole common room.

"What the heck is McGonagall talking about?"

"Probably old Snape played a prank on himself and said we did it."

"Evil git."

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "So...we'll see about this." She left the portrait hole without a word.

"McGonagall put a spell on us!" cried Sirius, as soon as she left.

"Oh, hush Sirius, she was just trying to see if you guys were telling the truth," snapped Lily.

"Why wouldn't we be?" asked James.

Arabella snorted. "You guys always lie to her. It's not her fault she barely trusts any of you."

"You guys are so shallow, I don't know how girls are still falling for you when you break their hearts," put in Jennifer.

"All right, that's just low!" exclaimed James. "For your information, we are not players. Second of all, Sirius already has Arabella and I'm not interested in girls. So there."

"That's because you, Jamie-boy, only have eyes for Lily," said Sirius, grinning.

"WHAT?"

"Come on, you know you love Lily."

"I DO NOT!"

In most unfortunate timing, Deanna had just strolled over without Kevin (miraculously). She flashed James a smile, but he completely ignored her.

"So you and Lily are a couple now?" she asked sweetly.

He glared at her. "No. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I _am_ a Gryffindor, you know. This is also my common room."

Lily suddenly coughed loudly, which was probably to hide a snigger.

"Are you all right?" asked James, concerned. "Here, you can borrow my cloak."

Lily grinned widely. "No—that's all right, James." Suddenly, the seven of them burst out laughing, much to James' confusion. Then he understood.

"Deanna?" he asked, just as sweetly. "Would you like to accompany me to the lake?"

Deanna raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, James, but you know I already have Kevin. Besides, you're a second year." She laughed wryly and stalked off.

"Miserable bat," muttered James.

"Lily will accompany you," piped up Peter.

"Oh, will I?" asked Lily, narrowing her eyes at the little boy.

"Er—no, you actually won't," Peter quickly said.

James frowned. "Come on, Evans, you will accompany me to the lake."

Lily sighed. "All right, then."

As the two headed outside, Lily narrowed her eyes. "Okay Potter, what's this all about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, you know you hate me. Now tell me why you're dragging me out to the lake. I very much doubt if we're allowed on the grounds this time of year—"

"Evans, what's your motto?"

Lily frowned. "I don't have one."

"Yes, you do. It's 'rules comes first in life before everything else, including family and friends'."

Lily felt humiliated. "That's not true!"

"Oh, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't! Now tell me why you dragged me here, of all the places."

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About what? It's not like you ever had anything good to say to me besides insults."

"Fine, I dragged you here to discuss Harry."

"What about him?"

"Well, for one thing, he's our son."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, wow, only a genius could figure_ that_ out!" she said sarcastically.

"Humph! You would sneer. Anyway, since he's our son, we're probably going to get married later on...much later on."

"Work of a genius here, Potter." Lily was getting more sarcastic by the minute.

"All right, I'll get to the point! I'm afraid."

This time, Lily didn't say anything. She was too stunned. James Potter, who ruled the Quidditch field and had girls all over him—afraid? It was almost laughable, but Lily was tactful, and knew that it wasn't a good idea to laugh just then.

"Afraid? Of what?"

"All this is happening so fast, Evans. I mean, we're getting married when we're older. We hate each other! And we're going to die together later on. I mean...we're too young to handle this all!"

Lily sighed. "Well, Dumbledore is going to put a powerful Memory Charm on us to forget all this. But…yeah, it is scary. Seeing me married to _you_...having a son...and then dying! I guess that's how fate works."

James grinned. "You know, Evans, you're not half bad."

"Oh really? Well...you are."

"Hey!"

Lily laughed. "It was too personal."

"You got that right."

***

"I'm bored," complained Arabella, yawning. "I wish Sirius was here."

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Girl, why are you thinking about Sirius all the time?"

"Hey, I wouldn't be talking! You think about Remus all the time, too!"

"Well...that's different. Because Remus is really sweet and Sirius—well, Sirius, he's not."

"Now that's a personal insult!"

"Hey, it wasn't made at you!"

"So? You insult my man, you insult me!"

Lily, who was watching all of this comfortably in one of the armchairs by the fire, laughed out loud. "Oh, Bells, you think too much of Sirius. Can't you guys take your mind off boys for once in your life?"

"Nope, no can do, Lils," said Bella, grinning. "Besides, I wouldn't be talking. What about James? I saw you and him cuddling yesterday by the lake!"

Lily snorted with laughter. "_Cuddling_? I could barely call it that, Bells; he and I were just discussing—things."

"What kind of things?"

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "You really love to pull my leg, don't you?"

"Of course."

"You know, at the Hogwarts Express first day back, you weren't so cocky."

"That's because I didn't know anyone. Once I know a few people, I start bouncing off the walls."

The four girls all laughed. Then the Marauders all entered the common room at perfect timing, with stupid grins on their faces.

"Lily Evans, so charming to see you!" James had bowed down low and kissed Lily's hand. Lily quickly removed her hand from his, blushing furiously.

"They're going to have quite a love story, as far as I'm concerned," said Arabella softly, watching the two flirt (though Lily and James would not admit it as 'flirting') shamelessly with each other.

"Those two are destined for each other—like fate," said Sirius, just as softly. "You know, Bella, should we try our skills and set them up together?"

Arabella grinned, but shook her head sadly. "No. They'll murder us, and murder each other. It's best if we let fate do it on its own. And if things don't work out right—then we'll play matchmaker."

"Sounds good to me."

Meanwhile, Jennifer and Remus were having their own little conversation.

"Lily and James are _so_ flirting with each other!" said Jen dramatically. "If only they would admit it!"

"Come on, Jenny, you know those two are as hard-headed as people can be. If we could just do a bit of matchmaking..."

"Remus Lupin, you know we shouldn't! Let's not meddle with fate. You know that they'll be together somehow. Besides, Sirius and Arabella are probably over there just now to discuss how to make them fall in love with each other. They'd get mad at us if we tried and ruined everything."

"And James would never forgive me."

Jennifer's ears perked up. "What was that?"

Remus smiled. "James likes Lily a lot, but he obviously won't admit it, as you can see." He glared at the black-haired boy, who was now entertaining the redhead next to him.

"Yeah, I'm sure Lil has a little crush on Jamie-boy as well. Still, I do wish they would stop arguing! Then the world would be at peace."

(A/N: Yeah, I know, you're all probably dying to hear what the heck Lily and James are 'flirting' about. Well, meanwhile...Lily and James are flirting...)

Lily snorted. "Potter, I will not try out for the Quidditch team, much less even play it at all, for the matter."

"You girls are so wimpy!" exclaimed James. "Come on, Evans, you're just scared!"

"Fine, I admit it. I'm not even sure if this is admitting it, since I've said I am scared of heights for the fifth time!"

"Gee...I guess I didn't listen! You know, I have the funniest feeling that the others are talking about us. Probably want to 'bring us together', as Sirius says every day."

"Sirius is a great prat," said Lily, frowning. "I can't believe who would name him godfather." 

James grinned guiltily. "That would probably be me. But hey, you made Arabella godmother!"

"And for a good reason! Bella's trustworthy...most of the time. Besides, those two are getting married anyway, why not make it easier and name them the godparents of Harry?" Mentioning Harry had made her eyes suddenly clouded, and her lips trembled.

"Are you all right?" asked James, concerned. "You look pale?"

"James, I just had the strangest dream last night. Harry was dueling this wizard, and a long, golden thread connected their wands. We came out from the golden thread, and I gave him instructions...to take the Portkey and get back to Hogwarts. What was that all about? And you kept saying '_do it now…do it now…'_" 

James' eyes widened. "Well, I have no idea. I had a funny dream, too...Sirius, he was looking up in the sky and talking to the clouds or something. Then I was standing _on_ the clouds and giving him instructions for something. My first thought when I woke up was that Sirius had finally cracked, but I'm not quite sure. I mean, I think I was in Heaven."

"Was—was I there?"

"Yes. The funny thing was, you were standing right beside me, telling me things occasionally. It was something about Harry—how to cheer him up. He seemed to have go into some sort of depression state."

"Poor boy. I wish—oh, I wish we could find out more about the future! He's such a brave boy with a sad past and a miserable present. We certainly can't make life easier for him."

"Unless if we were alive...but it would be impossible. We were hit with the Killing Curse, remember? No spell can awaken the dead."

Lily smiled. "You know, I think that we're starting to like each other...you know, as friends."

James looked horrified. "This calls for a prank!"

"Definitely."

The two headed off to their respected dorms and prepared a prank on each other.

***

"James Potter, you prat!" cried Lily. She was searching for James all over the common room. Her hair, which was her greatest pride besides her grades, was raven black—the very color she had once stated that she would never want her hair to be. And not only was it black, but there were violet streaks in it and it was in wild tumbles down her back. 

"Ah, Evans, very pretty work, isn't it?" 

Lily turned around, and her green eyes locked into a pair of brown ones. 

"You're going to pay, Potter!"

James smirked. "I thought we had a deal to play pranks on each other."

"I know, but—but—" she spluttered. "But my hair! You know it's my greatest pride besides schoolwork! Ugh! James Potter, you are the worst prat in this whole entire school!"

"Ah, Evans, don't get too overactive. After all, you _did_ make me make the announcement about wanting to snog Kelly Midgeon in front of the whole entire school yesterday. Now that wasn't fair. Now Midgeon bats her eyelashes every single time I walk past her. It's disgusting." He made a face.

Lily giggled. "Well, it was amusing."

"And so is your hair."

She glared at him, and then sighed. "Oh...I get what you mean. I suppose I shouldn't be _too_ mad." 

"Lily!" Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet were all running towards her, but stopped dead on their tracks when they saw her hair.

"What happened to your hair, Lils?" gasped Violet, her eyes widening.

Lily pointed one accusing finger to James and rasped, "Potter."

Arabella grinned. "James, you're a genius. This here—it's a piece of art."

James bowed low. "Thank you, thank you."

Lily's mouth dropped. "You're supposed to be supportive, Bella!" she whined.

"Oh, I am. Would it make you feel better to say that it clashes horribly with your complexion?"

"No."

"It doesn't look too bad," supplied Jennifer hopefully. "It looks kind of nice...black hair isn't too bad."

"Especially since I have it," added James.

"Which is a better reason why I hate it," snapped Lily. Then she glanced at her watch and jumped. "Shoot! There are twenty minutes until Potions!" All of them looked at each other and dashed out of the portrait hole.

"Be careful next time!" called the Fat Lady irritably as they dashed down to the dungeons. "I'm not a block of wood, you know!"

"Sorry Professor," panted Lily, as they arrived three minutes later into the Potions classroom. "We were running a little late and—" She stopped and her eyes widened.

Standing in front of the class was not Hurst, but Dumbledore. The girls and James all gasped, and stood by the door, shocked.

Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Understandable, Ms. Evans. Ah, yes, you are probably wondering where Professor Hurst is. Well, he's feeling a bit ill right now with the common case of a cold, and is resting in bed. So I have decided to take over his class. Now, please take your seats. I was just about to begin class anyway." His blue eyes twinkled.

They all sat down, and Lily blurted, "What about our punishment?"

Dumbledore blinked and frowned at her. "Excuse me, Ms. Evans?"

"Professor Hurst always takes points from Gryffindor when someone is late," she replied, ignoring the incredulous looks she was getting from her fellow Gryffindors.

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, yes, does he now? Well, that's certainly not my policy, Ms. Evans, so there will be no punishment. Oh, and I do love what you have done to your hair. A creation of Mr. Potter's, perhaps?" He winked at James.

"The very best, sir!" cried James enthusiastically.

Lily colored. "We're not in good terms, sir."

"I can see that. Now, where did Professor Hurst leave off? Ah, yes, the Aging Potion..."

At then end of class, Sirius was still howling over James' prank. 

"Bloody genius, Jamie-boy, if I don't say so myself!" he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "It's not that funny."

"Of course it is! Even Bella thinks so!"

"I do," admitted Arabella.

Suddenly, James approached her. He waved his wand casually, and her regular red hair had changed back.

"Oh, thank you James!" cried Lily, hugging him. Passers-by stared at the odd couple, wondering vaguely if this was the influence of a Love Potion.

"Evans...choking me..." was all James managed to say before Lily jumped off him, blushing.

"Well, well, if the little Mudblood and the disgraceful pureblood are officially a couple." It was Snape speaking, and his eyes were flashing menacingly. 

"Leave Lily be, Snape," snapped James coldly. "Just seeing you spoils my good mood."

"Oh, really? And I suppose your little girlfriend can't even speak for herself?"

Before James could say another word to defend her, Lily drew out her wand and pointed it straight at Snape's heart.

"I don't score top at Charms for nothing, Snape," she hissed. "I can perform any charm you can name. Just name one, and I'll be sure to perform it on you."

Snape backed away. "You—you wouldn't dare," he stuttered.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" Lily's eyes were flashing with anger.

Snape, by instinct, positively fled after that statement. Lily watched him run to the Slytherin common room, smirking.

"That was brilliant, Lil!" cried Arabella, laughing. "Oh, was Snape scared!"

"Hey, Lily," said Sirius, grinning widely. "If Snape didn't run away, would you have performed a charm at him."

Lily grinned back. "I never tell a lie." 

"Nice show there, Evans," said James, frowning slightly.

"You're just jealous that Lily made a better show of defense," said Arabella.

"What would possess you to think _that_?" asked James, but he was turning rather red.

"Out of common sense, seeing that it's true," piped up Sirius.

"Prats," muttered James, under his breath.

"I liked your black hair," sighed Arabella, shooting daggers at Lily's red hair.

"Well, I didn't, so there," snapped Lily, sticking out her tongue.

"Remus, Jen, can't you stop the sweet-talk for one second?" asked Sirius, groaning. "God, you're even worse than me and Bella!"

"Sirius," warned Arabella threateningly.

Both Remus and Jennifer jumped back, blushing. 

"We were just—um—" began Jennifer, but Arabella shook her head, smirking.

"You guys are plotting how to get Lily and James together, aren't you?"

"We're _what_?"

"So it's true?"

"Of course not!" Remus looked scandalized, but Jennifer smiled slightly.

"We thought upon it, and decided to leave it to you and Sirius."

"Good girl, Jenny!" cried Bella. "Always thinking about others!"

"Jen…" muttered Remus thickly.

"Oh, come on, Remus, have a little fun for once! After all, it is true." She smiled.

Lily shook her head. "You are all hopeless. Come on, Vi, it's time for lunch. You and Peter are the only _sensible_ people in this group; even Remus is beginning to become untrustworthy." 

"What about me?" asked Sirius, pouting. "I'm good, aren't I?"

"Siri-boy, you and Bella are the worst out of the whole group."

"That's my nickname for Sirius!" cried James. "How come everyone steals my nicknames? Huh? Why?"

"Because you're so naïve, Potter," said Lily, grinning. "See...if you were quick enough, you'd take our nicknames that we make up, too."

"Hey, I don't steal them not because I'm thick," he argued. "I just don't steal them because they're not original. I only like original." He smirked back.

"Humph! That's your problem, then. _I_ don't think you're all-that, Potter, but you—you're just an egotistical jerk. Seriously."

"Hey, you think you're all 'I'm so almighty', too!"

"I do **not**, Potter."

"You do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"God, you guys sound like four-year-olds!" exclaimed Arabella, shaking her head. "No wonder why you get married later on."

"BELLA!" the two screamed.

"What?"

"Bells, you're slow," commented Sirius, swinging his arm over her. 

"What?"

Sirius slapped his hand over his forehead and replied, "Nothing, nothing."

"You guys treat me like I'm daft!" she cried.

"That's because you are, Bella," said Violet.

"Go Vi! You're improving every day now! We can finally get you out of that shell." Jennifer was hyperventilating.

"What shell?" she asked.

"Oh, come on, Vi, you're always so sensible and prim. You need to be more—wild once in while."

"I certainly do not!" Violet was scandalized at the thought.

"Aww, Violet, don't listen to Jen, she's just bluffing this all," said Remus soothingly.

"Am I?" Jennifer raised her eyebrows at Remus. "Come on, Remie, you know me too well. I always mean what I say."

"Food!" cried Sirius, and he dashed off towards the Gryffindor Table and began munching on a chicken leg.

"Come on, dog-boy, save some for the rest of us," joked Arabella, as the rest of them sat down to eat.

"Wha'?" asked Sirius, his mouth full of chicken. "Wha' 'ou say?"

"You sound like you're speaking in French," said Lily, giggling.

"Wha'?"

"Sirius, don't speak with your mouth full," chided Jennifer.

Sirius swallowed the chicken and replied, "Yes, Professor Dean, I'll be sure to remember next time."

Everyone except Jennifer burst out laughing.

"Not funny," she snapped irritably. 

Lily grinned. "Come on Jen, lighten up. Besides, you'd make a great professor—especially at Astronomy."

Jennifer's face lightened up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Sirius coughed. "I hate warm moments," he muttered.

"Siri-boy, you share too many warm moments with Bella, even! I wouldn't be talking!" James was glaring indignantly at his best friend.

"Well, you and Lily flirt pretty heavily too, Jamie-boy."

"We WHAT?"

Remus snorted. "Don't tell me that you don't know that you flirt with Lily all the time."

"It's not _flirting_. It's—talking."

"Yeah, with you and Lily making lovesick faces at each other," added Peter, who had been silent for the past five minutes.

"Vi...you don't think..." began Lily. Her face fell when Violet nodded, smiling. She groaned.

"My life is officially over. You guys all torture me to no end. Maybe I'll go hang around the Hufflepuffs for a while...that idiot Lockhart kid will do."

"Come on, Lils, we were just joking; no need to get so desperate. That Gilderoy Lockhart is just an airhead idiot. Nearly all Hufflepuffs are."

"Gee, Bella, I do remember you making puppy faces at Amos Diggory during our first year..." teased Lily.

"You did **what**?" demanded Sirius, glaring at his current "girlfriend".

"This was before us, Sirius," said Arabella smoothly, but her face was a brilliant shade of red. 

"We have Herbology after lunch," announced Lily, chewing slowly at a piece of buttered bread.

"Did you memorize the schedule?" asked James lazily.

Lily looked surprised. "Of course I did! You need to, you know. It's much more convenient."

"Lil, you're another person who needs to loosen up a bit," said Arabella. "Stop studying for once in your life."

"I couldn't do that!" Lily looked horrified at the very thought of failing a Potions exam.

"Ah, the Hermione coming back to you, Lils?" asked James, grinning.

"Humph! At least she's a sensible one."

"You just told Vi to stop being so sensible," said Jennifer, thinking. Then she turned around and began to speak in whispers with Remus again.

"You two are seriously planning to get married, aren't you?" asked Arabella impatiently, looking at Jennifer giggling at something Remus had said. "Jennifer Lupin...sounds kind of nice. Mrs. Remus Lupin—Mrs. Lupin—Jennifer Dean Lupin—I can think of the possibilities!"

"Bells..." said Jennifer, blushing furiously. "Remus and I aren't getting _married_!"

"Well, you two sure act like it!"

Both Jennifer and Remus' faces had turned bright red. Lily saw her friend in need and came to the rescue.

"Ah, but Bella," she said wisely, trying to keep a straight face, "you and Sirius do much of bonding as well. Arabella Figg Black—Mrs. Sirius Black—Mrs. Black—all those names for you, too!"

All except for Arabella and Sirius burst out laughing, while the latter was fuming. Then Lily cried, "Oh, Bells, I was just pulling your leg. No need to get physical."

Then they all laughed together. (A/N: I know, so corny! Yeah, yeah, everyone laughing...pathetic. But hey, give me a break! School is not fun, since I have four tests coming up L )

***

Christmas came and went. Lily had received gracious presents from all her friends and the Marauders, including James. She had even given a present to her worst enemy: a snow globe with an older version of him and a present him (supposed to represent Harry) standing next to each other, which she had gotten made especially from a Daily Prophet advertisement. James himself had given her a stuffed cat, which really meowed and purred and moved about. All their friends, especially Sirius and Arabella, had teased them to no end about when their wedding would take place. Sirius had begged to be best man and Arabella, the bridesmaid, much to the fury of Lily and James. But they had started to grow a bit closer, though the two would not admit it.

"Lillian likes Jamsie, Lillian likes Jamsie" was be the chant that Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet would sing every time Lily and James walked pass them together.

"Infuriating," mumbled Lily, when the three had started to chant again after she and James left Dumbledore's office. "Be glad your friends don't do this, Potter."

"I had to actually put the Full Body-Bind curse on Sirius, who put a spell on me that said 'Lily Evans is absolutely gorgeous and I really want to be locked up in a room with her'," admitted James.

Lily made a face. "Very harsh. But really, James"—she grinned—"do you want to get locked up in a room with me?"

James stared at her. "This is a joke, right? Because it's seriously not funny, Lily. I'm not a pervert like Sirius is!"

"Oh, and is he a pervert?"

"Yep. When I had threatened him that I would lock _him_ in a room with Arabella if he didn't take that spell off me, he said he wouldn't mind. Definitely a pervert."

"Poor Bella," sighed Lily.

"Oh...Lily?" asked James, after a moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"I—I just wanted to thank you properly for the snow globe. I couldn't thank you properly before, since Sirius could never give me a moment's peace."

Lily laughed. "You're welcome. And—thanks for the stuffed cat, too. It's really cute." She giggled. "I named it Snuggles."

"Snuggles? Is that the best name you can think of?" James snorted.

Lily looked insulted. "Hey, it's a cute name! Besides, you're a boy, what would you know?"

"A lot more than Ms. Lily Evans, that's for sure."

"Jamie-boy, you're an idiot, you know that?"

"You know, you're beginning to sound like Sirius."

"That's because I _am_ serious, you idiot!"

"No, you're not Sirius, you're Lily."

Lily groaned. "The stupid pun again. Let's stop."

"You're the one who started it."

"Did not!" 

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"All right, I started it. Are you happy now?"

"Yes."

"Baby."

"Snape-lover."

"Ego—" began Lily, but stopped immediately. "What did you call me? Snape's _lover_? It's a joke, right?"

"Er—sorry, no. Snape likes you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I hope it's not another stupid prank again."

"Oh no. Sirius and I sneaked near the dungeons once and heard Snape telling Rosier that he liked you. And that was after the spell wore off."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine, believe what you want to, but it's true!"

That night, Lily had another strange dream again.

__

It was Harry, and he was looking out of the window of his dormitory, muttering to himself. He looked about twelve or thirteen judging by his size, and a single tear had trickled down his cheek.

"Prongs," he whispered. "Dad…I wish I could be with you and Mum one day. Sirius is innocent—it was Peter who did it, Dad, it was Peter."

Then the redhead boy, Ron, entered the dormitory and sat down on the opposite side of Harry, looking worried.

"Harry, you're not moaning about your dad again, are you?"

Harry didn't answer. 

Ron persisted. "Look, Harry, I know you want your dad back…and your mum. So do we all. But, you can't be depressed about all this, you know. You remember what Dumbledore said to you: 'Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have in need of him'. Your dad and mum are both alive in you, Harry. You're not the only who misses them. That's why everyone in the wizarding world are in tears when they see you. You remind them so much of both your mum and dad. I hope you understand this."

Harry smiled. "Thanks Ron. I guess I really needed that. But…maybe someday, I'll see my dad prancing as a stag in the Quidditch Field. Someday."

"Yeah. Someday." Then both boys had left for the common room, where a distinct tear was visible on Harry's cheek.

Lily sat straight up, tears in her own eyes. Poor Harry! She knew that he probably loved them both, but James was really important to him...she needed to talk to James and Dumbledore.

She entered the boys' dormitory, where she found the light on and four boys rubbing their eyes sleepily.

"Good of you to see us, Lily," mumbled Sirius thickly. 

"Why are you guys awake?" asked Lily curiously.

"'Cause Jamie-boy had a nightmare again."

"It was not a nightmare!" cried James. "It was just...something that really stirred me up."

"Oh, hush it up, Potter." With that said, Sirius' head landed on his pillow and he was fast asleep again.

"I had a dream again, James," Lily whispered. "I need to see Dumbledore. Want to come?"

"That's what I was planning to do anyway." 

James and Lily went out of the portrait hole and headed off for Dumbledore's office. McGonagall and the other teachers never bothered when they saw them frequently visiting the headmaster's office during night, since they knew that the two had dreams of the future. 

"I was expecting you," said Dumbledore warmly, as they entered his office.

"Sir," began James hurriedly. "Harry—he needs us. Can't we...can't we travel to the future and—!"

"James," cut off Lily sharply. "You can't. You'll meddle with time and everything will be mixed and messed up."

"Ms. Evans is right, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore gravely. "You mustn't meddle with time."

"And—" began Lily, but she decided not to say it. What did it mean when Harry said he wished he saw James prancing around as a stag?

When they left, James grasped Lily's hand briefly.

"Don't worry, I'm as confused as you are. But don't mention this to Bella or anyone. It's kind of really personal."

Lily smiled. "I know."

James grinned and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "So tell me about this dream of yours."

"Well, Harry was looking outside of the window and was crying. He said that he needed you and said something about Sirius being innocent and how 'it was Peter'. I had no idea what he was talking about, whatsoever. Then his friend, Ron, came in and said that his—_we_ are alive in him, especially you, and that we'll be with him someday. It seemed to have cheered him up a bit, but he was still crying when he left for the common room. Poor kid." Lily sniffed and couldn't resist any longer. She burst out crying in front of James.

James patted her arm awkwardly. "Look Lils, it's all right. Because whatever happens to Harry, whatever happens to us—we'll stick together. Even if we are enemies right now."

"And we can't get along much at all," added Lily.

"But we'll definitely become friends later."

"Much later."

"Hey!"

Lily grinned. "Come on, let's get back to sleep. Professor Wickham will not be pleased tomorrow for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

(A/N: LOL! I know...Wickham is the guy who Lydia fell in love with in Pride and Prejudice. But hey, give me a break, I was running out of names here!)

"Yeah. But whatever happens, we'll stick together, right? And help Harry?"

"Right."

~~~

What can I say, this is another horrible chapter! But hey—I updated! Thank me here! Say whatever you have to say, flame whatever you have to flame. Just don't rub it in the fact that this is a terrible chapter. I **know** it is, but I've been so busy with school, there's barely enough time for anything! So I apologize for this chapter and don't hope for another good one until either spring break or summer vacation :P

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing, because everything belongs to the mighty J.K. Rowling, whom I might add has to tell me something about the fifth HP book, or I will personally write to her and bug her to no end. Anyone want to help me? *evil grin* 

Please read my favorite stories if you want more L/J! I LOVE romance everyone! Hehe :) 


	7. Second Year: Part Four

Year Two – Part Four

"I saw you with him, Lils!" cried Arabella with relish, as they headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Wickham. "You two were holding hands!"

"For about three seconds!" retorted Lily. She was fed up with all the talk of her and James as a couple. Surely she knew they would get married later, but she didn't like him just now, especially with Bella never letting her live up to this.

"Bells, leave Lils alone," said Jennifer, yawning widely. "Who cares if she and James Potter were holding hands. They're going to get married anyway after Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Jen, I've been waiting for Bella here to understand that. Now, Bells, will you _now_ leave me alone?"

"Let me think about that—no."

"I hope Potter is suffering just as much as I am from Sirius," muttered Lily gloomily, as she sat at her usual table for class. She adored Professor Wickham: he was a young wizard in his mid-thirties who was always enthusiastic about teaching them to fight the Dark Arts and the many curses. Most fortunately for the young Gryffindors that they didn't take a double class with another House; they wanted Professor Wickham all to themselves.

"Lily! So kind of you to join us!" Professor Wickham winked as she sat down. Lily looked at him, confused for a moment, but then realized that she had been yelling at Arabella for a full three minutes.

"Oh—sorry about that, Professor," Lily mumbled.

Professor Wickham grinned. Ah…young love. In this case, very young love. He knew of young Lily and James' destiny for each other. So young to cope with such responsibility! He also knew of the two's hatred for each other, but every day, he'd see James Potter glancing at Lily with a dreamy expression.

"Mr. Potter, if you would be so kind as to pay a bit more attention to these curses I'm about to explain here," he patiently said, interrupting James' daydream for the fifth time that day. "If I may have a word with you after class."

Remus was glaring at James. Defense Against the Dark Arts was his favorite class and he took notes very dutifully every single class, even if it was boring. He felt it very insulting that James barely paid attention to such fascinating curses, but quickly hastened himself to his notes again, grinning, as he saw James glance toward Lily again.

Sirius, obviously, watched this all with an eagle eye, and gave a thumbs-up to James when Wickham had interrupted his little daydream. He personally thought that Lily and James were so over each other, but wouldn't admit it. He also thought that they were both as stubborn as mules.

Lily, who was always a good student, flushed whenever Professor Wickham said James' name. She did not look over towards his way, but always ended up in some sort of dazed dream whenever she stared at the notes in the book that she was supposed to be copying. It happened quite often in every class except for Charms and Potions; Charms was her favorite class and because it was likely to get all the points from Gryffindor taken off if she didn't pay attention in Potions.

Arabella was currently laughing at Lily silently to herself. Lily was barely noticing because of two reasons: either because she was daydreaming about James again or taking down detailed notes. Too bored to now pay attention to Wickham's energetic voice, Bella passed a note to Lily.

__

Hey Lils!

Lily replied, almost surprisingly: _Bella! What are you _doing?

__

Hey, this is boring, you know.

It is not! Professor Wickham is very intellectual in this field of study. And these curses are fascinating.

Yeah, whatever, forget the stupid speeches. Wickham's cool, but he's so boring _sometimes. All right, all the time._

Well, it's not my fault you barely passed your exams. I wouldn't be surprised to see you fail this year.

Would you want me to?

If you keep bothering me about this nonsense of James Potter, yes, I would.

Darn. Fine, I'll stop bugging you about Jamsie.

Good. And it's Potter, not Jamsie.

Same thing.

Miraculously, Wickham had not noticed them writing notes, but the boys had, and ached to find out what they were talking about. So after class, the piece of parchment that Lily and Arabella were passing back and forth was completely forgotten by the girls, the boys took it and began reading.

"I can't believe Arabella doesn't think Defense Against the Dark Arts is interesting! I'm glad Lily thinks it is, though." Remus was extremely affronted.

"And I was hoping they'd be saying something about how Lily is head-over-heels for James, too," replied Sirius regretfully. 

"Sirius, you're an idiot," said James good-naturedly, though his face was flushed at the mention of Lily. 

Sirius snorted. "Jamie-boy, the whole school knows you're all over Lily Evans, so stop trying to hide it."

"I am not!" cried James, flushing.

"Yes, you are," said Remus, smiling. "Lily thinks the same way too. Jenny told me that Lily is frequently caught daydreaming, no doubt about you."

James blushed furiously. "Well…it might be about some other guy…like Amos Diggory," he added, scowling. "The idiot."

"Diggory's too arrogant," said Sirius. "Guy has girls flocking around him all the time, though."

"Hey, I have girls flocking around me too!" snapped James irritably. Then he added, "Though it's a lot of unwanted attention."

"Because you want Lily to notice you even though she doesn't?" suggested Sirius hopefully.

James had a sudden urge to punch Sirius right across the nose, but it didn't seem like a good idea at the time.

Remus grinned. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"I'll see you guys later, Wickham wanted a word with me," said James.

"James, I'm aware of this lack of attention you have towards this class," said Professor Wickham seriously, though a hint of a grin was pulling on his mouth. "I know that Lily Evans is very entrancing for you to be staring at her the whole time, but—"

"I hate her!" shouted James, without even realizing it. Then he turned red and muttered, "Sorry, Professor."

"No need. But I would love you and Lily to be friends so this whole dispute will be settled. And I really do feel for you, James. I know how stressful it is to learn of the future at such a young age."

"Thank you, sir." James left his office, and hurried to find his friends, who were nowhere to be found.

After searching for about a quarter of an hour, James gave up and decided to go to the library and get a head start on the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Unsurprisingly, Lily was there when he entered, poring over thick books.

"Hey, Lily," he said, and Lily turned around, surprised. She would never expect James Potter, of all the people, to be at the library so early.

"Potter?" she asked cautiously. "What the hell are you doing in the library right after a class? This must be a first!"

"Yeah, well…" James shrugged. "I was looking for Sirius, Remus, and Peter, couldn't find them, so I decided to come here to get a head start on that ruddy essay."

"I think it's an interesting topic," said Lily thoughtfully. "And what's it to you how you lost you friends? Aren't they **always** with you?"

"Er—" James was debating whether to tell her or now. "Well, Professor Wickham kept me back after class for a few minutes, and when I got out of his classroom, well, they weren't anywhere in sight."

"I'll help you look for them," offered Lily, amazed herself at what she had said. Hadn't she wanted to finish her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay as soon as possible?

James seemed to be having similar thoughts. What was Evans thinking, helping him find his friends? Surely, it was a friendly gesture, but was she serious? All she cared about was finishing that stupid essay and getting ten out of ten.

"Are you sure, Lily?" he asked cautiously, still doubting the redhead. "I mean, you did come to the library this early to get a head start on that essay of Wickham's."

"Oh, forget about that, I have all weekend!" exclaimed Lily. She was suddenly in a very hyper and hysterical mood. "Besides, it's nice to get out of the library for a while. I go there every day, and I need a new place to go to, for a change. Exploring Hogwarts is definitely better than poring over books in the library."

"You go to that ruddy library _every day_?" asked James in amazement. "My, isn't that a dull life!"

"Hey, I've made my point," said Lily, shrugging. She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulders. "Come on, are we going to find them or not? They're my friends, too, you know."

James was surprised, but quickly felt guilty, since he always considered Sirius, Remus, and Peter _his_ and _only_ his friends. Now he found out how selfish he was to think that.

"Of course I know that they're your friends," he snapped rather nervously.

Lily rolled her eyes; she obviously didn't believe him. "Whatever." Then she left the library, causing James to think twice and run after her.

__

Evans is really different – unlike any girl I've ever known, mused James. _I wonder if she'd make a good mother…wow, I must be going _way _too far!_

"Potter?" Lily poked him on his ribs. "Hello? Well, you're pretty blind, the rest of the Marauders were waiting right outside the library for you. They've been looking for you everywhere."

James turned and saw Sirius, Remus, and Peter smiling at him near the library door. Where the hell had they come from? He hadn't seen them there when he entered the library! Unless—

"You three stole my Invisibility Cloak!" he cried frantically. "All right, Sirius, where is it?"

Sirius shook his head, grinning, and took out the silvery cloak from his robe pocket. "My, my, are you quick, Potter."

James grinned. "I know all your antics, I do, Siri-boy. I know 'em even better than old Figg."

Both Lily and Sirius turned red, and James laughed. "I was just kidding!"

"Good," said Lily, still frowning. "'Cause Bella's your friend, isn't she?"

"Of course she is! So is Jen and Vi…and somehow, you're sort of my friend."

Lily looked horrified. "Very funny, Potter."

"Funny? It's no joke."

"Considering that his attention span completely lapses when he thinks of you," added Peter. He had barely spoken those last few days, and whenever he did, he always ended up stuttering very badly.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You talk?"

Peter flushed. "Yeah, I do."

"With no stutter? Really, Peter, this must also be a first for you! I haven't heard you talk without a stutter for months on end."

Peter was now extremely red, and Lily grinned. "Come on, Pete, I was joking. I'm not _that_ mean, you know."

"You aren't?" asked James, hiding a smile.

"No, Potter, I'm not…most of the time. When I am mean, it's always either to you, other idiotic people, or the Slytherins. You and the Slytherins most of the time."

"Well, well, well. It looks like Potter is flirting here with yet another girl. Getting sick of that Jackson, Potter?" They all turned around to see Snape and his Slytherin gang. Lily suddenly felt very sick.

Snape was taken aback when he saw Lily. "Why, Lily! It's so pleasant to see you here…in the company of Potter." He frowned.

"Didn't you hate me last week, Severus? You did call me a Mudblood, after all."

"Oh!" Snape was now bright red. "Well—er—you see, now, Lily, I was just—"

"And you better not say I had something to do with it, because I didn't play a prank on you for a week," interrupted James, seeing that Snape was desperately looking at his direction.

"Yeah, Potter, like I can believe that. Last time you made me like Evans for the whole first year. How do I know if you didn't this time?"

"Because I've definitely learned my lesson," replied James, wincing slightly at the remembrance of Lily slapping him hard across the face after she had found out. 

After Snape and the other Slytherins left, Sirius burst out laughing. "Oh my God, Snape still likes you, even though Jamie-boy didn't do anything! It's priceless!"

Lily was beet red. "Hush it, Black, or you were personally be injured."

"Oh, I'm so scared," muttered Sirius.

"You'd better be," threatened Lily.

"Ooh, is that a threat? From a girl?" mocked Sirius, grinning.

"Sirius…" muttered James.

"Yes, Jamie-boy? Oh…jealous, are you?" Sirius' grin, if possible, became even wider.

James looked incredulously at his best friend. "_Jealous_? Of what?"

"How should _I_ know? I'm not you."

"I don't know why you were named Sirius, Siri-boy. After all, you aren't very serious."

"He's the most un-serious person I've ever seen!" cried Peter.

"Grammar, Pete," said Remus, smiling at the small boy. "There's no such thing as 'un-serious' in our language."

"You know, Remus, you and Lily would make a great couple. You guys correct all of us on stupid grammar," said Sirius.

"I don't want to be killed by Jen, Sirius, so I think I'll pass," snapped Lily angrily. "Besides, she loves Remus to death, why live a few years shorter?"

"We're only twelve," mumbled Remus, blushing. "We…we don't understand love _yet_."

"Don't worry, Remus, Jen's just really precocious," said Lily, smiling at the brown-haired boy.

"What's 'precocious' mean?" asked Peter, yet again.

They all sighed. "Never mind, Pete."

"What?"

__

(A/N: Yes, I know I'm making Peter really dumb, but he is…isn't he?)

"Well, I'm going back to the library, if you don't mind," said Lily rather snappily. 

"Of course I don't. I barely even know why you even came to help me look for those morons"—James pointed to his friends—"in the first place."

Lily shrugged. "Hey, I'm a nice girl!"

James snorted. "Right."

***

Spring passed quickly, as did the Easter holidays. Lily had gone home as she had promised Mum, and now it was May, summer fast approaching. The second years had more homework than ever, and it was a common sight to see Lily bent over a book and writing viciously with her quill. Still, she managed to get the top grades of their year—at least, so far.

James was gradually failing every subject except for Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick was especially displeased at his indifference and inability at Charms, and even Professor McGonagall got impatient with him when his attention lapsed again in class. He ended up having even more work to do than Lily.

"James?" Lily asked timidly, as he worked furiously fast at his nasty Charms essay.

"Yes?" he answered curtly. James was not in the mood to talk to anyone, especially Lily.

"I was wondering…if you need any help," continued Lily, her voice unusually small. "Since, well, Professor Flitwick did give you more homework than the rest of us—"

"So you're here to jeer and make fun of me," finished James angrily. "Really, Lily, if you had anything better to do, you'd get started on _your_ own work. Oh wait! I forgot! You already _finished_ all your homework, so you came to make fun of me instead! Ha!" With that, James gathered all his books, parchments, quills, and ink and left for the boys' dormitory.

"Sorry about James, Lily," said Remus quietly, as he watched James storm up the circular staircase. "He's a bit strained at this moment."

Lily looked after him, astonished, but then her face turned angry as well. "He didn't have to be so nasty about it. I mean, I was only trying to help after all. Besides, it's his own fault that he stays up late every night marauding around the school and not getting any of his homework done. Really!" Her face was bright red, and she was breathing very quickly.

"Don't worry about Potter, Lils, he's a real jerk," said Arabella, trying to calm down her friend.

"He's not!" cried Sirius hotly, who was scribbling on his parchment as well. "He's just stressed like the rest of us. It's not his fault he thought Lily was making fun of him. After all, she does do it all the time, and she is done with all her homework." He shot Lily an extremely nasty look.

"Sirius Black!" shrieked Arabella, making the whole common room silent. "Don't you dare insult my best friend!"

"Well, you insulted mine!"

Lily felt her eyes sting with tears. Arabella and Sirius were fighting…because of her! Suddenly, without warning, she took a leaf out of James' book and stormed up to her dorm as well. Behind her, she heard Jennifer and Remus' voices mingled in the argument also.

Lily started crying as soon as she reached her four-poster bed. It was empty, since her friends were still in the common room, arguing. She suddenly heard knocking on the door, and thinking it was Arabella or Jennifer, she called, "Come in."

It wasn't them. It was James.

"Go away, Potter!" Lily cried, and sobbed once more.

"Lily?" he asked. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm _not_ crying!" shouted Lily, wiping at her tears furiously.

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, and I'm the Minister of Magic."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"I just came to apologize," he said rather awkwardly, blushing. "I—didn't mean to lash out at you like that. Must've just…slipped my mind. All that homework is a bunch of cra—" He stopped, noticing that his language was slowly slipping. "Sorry."

"It's all right," replied Lily, trying to smile, but failing terribly. "It's just that…you _could_ try studying once in a while. It works."

James grinned. "James Potter, King of the Quidditch Field—_study_? How unlikely is that?"

"You're right," said Lily, sighing. "You can never be expected to study. It's just like saying Snape apologizing to you and becoming your friend."

"Or you and Remus kissing," added James, sniggering at the thought.

Lily made a face. "Remus and Sirius are like brothers to me. So is Peter, I suppose, though he is a bit slow. And so are you." Lily stood up and kissed James lightly on the cheek and smiled mysteriously. 

James blushed even redder than he was before. "I hope Sirius isn't watching with my Invisibility Cloak right now. Because he will never let me live it down."

"Don't worry, he's still arguing in the common room with…" Lily gulped. "…with Bella." She broke down again. "It's all my fault that they're all arguing!"

"Nah," said James, and he grinned. "They're stressed, too. It may seem like Sirius and Arabella were arguing because of you, but they're not. I've known Sirius too long of my life."

"So it's not my fault?"

"Of course not! Though watch Sirius and Arabella break up. They'll both date other people just to make each other jealous, and then confess their undying 'like' for each other again. It's not love, of course. We're only thirteen, after all."

"I'll be thirteen in June," said Lily, smiling now. But then she frowned. "They'll break up? But that'll shatter poor Bella's heart into pieces!"

"And Sirius'," added James. "My God, you think he's in love with the girl, the way they snog each other like there's no tomorrow."

Lily laughed. "Still…I hate it when my friends are unhappy. Though I'm rather ecstatic when you're unhappy…no offense. Actually, it was an offense."

James grinned again and shook his head. "You, Evans, are still my enemy. Am I right?"

"For once in your life, you are."

***

"I hate Sirius Black!" gushed Arabella. She had been shooting daggers at Sirius all day today. "The way he's snogging Sarah Abbott…and he said to us he'd never kiss any Hufflepuff in his life!" She burst into tears, but smiled at the sight of Amos Diggory at the Hufflepuff table. "Now there's one hot Hufflepuff that I must get my hands on." 

Lily, Jennifer, and Violet all watched as Arabella walked up to Amos and kissed him. He looked surprised for a moment, but then returned her kisses more than willingly. After all, most of the male population at Hogwarts were after Bella. The three other girls tried to stifle their laughs as they watched Sirius stare jealously at the kissing couple at the Hufflepuff table.

"So." 

They turned around, and saw James Potter smiling at them. 

"Looks like Diggory and Figg have finally gotten together, after her making faces at him for over a year."

"You mean used to, before Bella met Sirius," snapped Jennifer.

"Jen," warned Lily.

"What, sticking up to your boyfriend?"

"Jennifer!" Lily was scandalized. "The way you think sometimes!"

"I'm only joking," said Jennifer, grinning. "You know they'll get together any day now. It's no surprise."

"But look how much they're both suffering, though," commented Violet, looking pityingly at Sirius' sad and angry face.

James opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, smiling wickedly. "How about _you_ start kissing Sirius, Vi, so you can make those two airheads get together sooner."

"I'd never!" cried Violet, her eyes widening. "How can you suggest such a thing?"

"I was just saying…" muttered James, shrugging.

"James Potter. What are you doing with **her** friends?"

James turned around to find a furious Sirius glaring at the three girls.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"You're talking to Evans, Dean, and Walker. Figg's friends. My _ex_-girlfriend, who will never become my girlfriend…_ever_." He emphasized the last word hardly.

"What are you blaming Evans, Jennifer, and Vi for, anyway, Sirius? Sure, I don't like Evans, but Jen and Vi are my friends. And yours. So is Arabella."

"Don't say **her** name James, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"Humph! You know you miss Bella, Sirius, I can see it in your eyes. And Bella misses you too."

"Then why is she kissing Diggory?" spat Sirius.

"Well, why were you kissing Sarah Abbott?" asked James lightly. Seeing Sirius' stunned expression, he continued. "Make your choice, Siri-boy. If you need help, ask me, Remus, or Peter any time."

"You…" Sirius shook his head and stormed off to snog Sarah again.

"The boy's too stubborn," said James, sighing, as he watched Sirius now deepen his kiss with Sarah. "It's disgusting."

"Why? You've kissed Lils loads of times, James," said Jennifer placidly, smiling at the boy.

Then Remus sat next to Jennifer and they began their own little "snog session", leaving Violet, James, and Lily look disgustingly at them. Or rather, Lily and James looking disgustingly at them, and Violet looking at them dreamily.

"Romance in the air," sighed Violet, grinning.

"Vi, you're incorrigible," said Lily, shaking her head. "Spring's almost over!"

"And it's so upsetting that Bella and Sirius won't get together."

"Don't worry, they will soon enough," snapped Lily impatiently. "You know them. Stubborn as mules, both of them. Won't admit that they still like each other until the very end. I hope this kind of stuff doesn't happen to me, though. I mean, who'd want to kiss a Hufflepuff? Please remind me, Vi, to never kiss a Hufflepuff no matter what."

"Don't worry, I will," said Violet brightly. "After all, you and James will be kissing before long."

"VIOLET!" exclaimed Lily and James, blushing furiously. _(A/N: There seems to be a lot of blushing in my story, isn't there?)_

"What? It's probably true!"

They both groaned loudly.

Arabella skipped next to them and plopped herself down in a seat. "Hey guys!" she cried enthusiastically.

"Hey," the three said…rather unenthusiastically.

"Guess what?" she asked excitedly. "Amos Diggory asked me out! He asked me out!" She squealed with delight.

"Oh," said Violet, who was extremely gloomy. "What about Sirius?"

Arabella was suddenly back on earth. "What about…him?" she spat.

"Don't you miss him?" asked Violet timidly.

"_No_. And please don't ever mention his name again, Vi, or I will injure you." Arabella glared so hard at them all that they didn't dare say another word.

"Those two," sighed Lily, watching Arabella flirt with Amos, "are completely hopeless. I think that if they can't get together themselves, we're going to have to play matchmaker."

"Did someone say matchmaker?" asked Jennifer excitedly, while Remus groaned. "I'm in, of course."

"But what about the exams?" whined Lily.

James glared at her. "Do you care more about the stupid end-of-the-year exams, or do you care about your best friend?"

Lily sighed. "I guess I have no choice, of course, then. I'm in."

But little did they know that, even though Arabella and Sirius did get together with their plan, it all fell apart and didn't go the way they expected it to go.

***

"This'll never work," said Lily, shaking her head. "It's too risky."

"What, scared of failing the exams, Evans?" asked James coldly. He and Lily were not on speaking terms at the moment.

"No, Potter. It's just that this plan is so horribly put together that it'll surely fall apart."

"I hate to admit it, James," said Remus awkwardly, "but I agree."

James narrowed his eyes at the two. "Fine, be that way. But trust me, it'll work all right. Then you'll be sorry you ever doubted me, Evans."

"Hey, Remus doubts you too!" cried Lily, angry at the injustice of the statement.

"Well, he's my friend, so it doesn't count."

While Lily fumed over James' comment, they all went with his plan. Since Arabella and Sirius see them giddy and careless over their whole break-up, they wouldn't expect them to play matchmaker at all on them. That, of course, was a part of the plan. After countless arguments in the boys' and girls' dormitories, they came up with the old-fashioned way of locking them into a closet and making them settle differences. Lily and James both wrote notes, trying to copy Arabella and Sirius' handwriting style, and send it to them both, writing it under their names. Praying that they'd follow the instructions of each note, the two would end up in the closet. 

"It's a brilliant plan," said James, grinning. "All thanks to the wonderful Mr. James Potter."

"Hey, the rest of us helped too, you know!" said Lily grumpily. "Don't think you're so high and almighty."

"Isn't that supposed to be you?" asked James innocently.

"Whatever, Potter. Let's just get with the plan."

Lily had written Arabella's note:

__

Dear Sirius,

Look, I'm really sorry for being such an idiot. Can we just forget about this whole argument and start over again? Please meet me at the Charms corridor tomorrow afternoon at 3:00. After all, we don't have classes. I hope to see you there.

Love,

Arabella Figg

Thinking she had better make the note more realistic, Lily also wrote a P.S. underneath the signature:

__

P.S. Oh, and I hope that we can get together and play matchmaker on Lily and James.

Meanwhile, James was writing his note, which was feigned to be written under Sirius' name. Little did the rest of them know that his note was the one that made this plan fall apart.

__

My dear Arabella,

I so _hope that you would forgive me by now. I mean to say, Sarah Abbott is a total airhead and idiot. I mean, she was such a bit—well, you know, to my friends today. _

I still love you a lot. Yes, that's right, I love _you. It's no joke, really. You're perfect in every way. Smart, beautiful, with those curls of mahogany cascading down your back…You're my dream girl, Arabella Figg, and I'd ask you to marry me right now if we were old enough._

You still think this is a joke, don't you? I don't blame you. But I hope that you will share similar feelings after you read this note. After all, why did you kiss Amos Diggory? You know how I hate him so, Bella! When I saw you with him, a cold realization of jealously froze my soul. 

You're wondering how I write such romantic notes? Jamie-boy taught me. I'm sure that we'll be able to get him _to write such notes to Lily someday, huh? Oh, and please meet me at the Charms corridor tomorrow afternoon at 3:00. We still need to settle out some matters at hand. _

You're one true love,

Sirius Black

James smiled. Yes, a masterpiece was right in front of him. Even Evans would be beaming and congratulating him once this plan worked out.

Minutes later, both of them met back at the common room, beaming at their so-called "masterpieces", and put them on the beds of their owners in their respected dormitories.

__

(A/N: No, I will not switch the notes so that Arabella and Sirius are supposedly going to get the notes they "wrote". But it's a nice thought, but too long to write.)

"So…Evans. What did you write in your note?" asked James, smirking.

Lily shrugged. "Oh, you know, the regular stuff. Here's what I wrote. You did make a double of the note, didn't you?"

"How could I forget? Mine was a masterpiece."

James read Lily's note and stared at her with disappointment. "That's _all _you said? No romantic stuff?"

"No, of course not," said Lily sensibly. "If we put that stuff in, then it'll ruin the whole plan. They're supposed to be making up each other's amends. If we do it for them, then, well, they're likely to be both exploded by the time we find them."

James' face suddenly turned white. 

Lily looked at him impatiently. "Well, where's your note? I want to read your little 'masterpiece'." She chuckled.

James handed her the note, waiting for the blow. After she finished reading the signature, her face was as white as his was.

"You wrote that romantic nonsense when I told you not to?" she hissed.

"You never told me!" exclaimed James, trying to remember.

"Of course I did! You were probably off in la-la land, though."

James didn't even want to look at Lily. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"More than trouble, boy. This is going to cost you…and I a lot of that trust Arabella and Sirius put into us. We'redead as dead fish."

James gulped. "Well, I guess this _didn't _work out as fine as I thought it would."

"Definitely not."

Suddenly Arabella and Sirius both entered the common room and waved to them, ignoring each other. Then they both went up to their respected dormitories, while James and Lily's eyes widened.

"We have to go after them before they read those blasted notes!" cried Lily. Then they both dashed up to find their friends, but it was too late by the time they reached them.

"Oh, Lily," said Arabella, smiling, with tears in her eyes. "Who _knew _Sirius could be such a writer! And James helped him, too…good boys, they are. I'm so proud of him! He says he _loves _me."

Lily was extremely tense. "Don't be ridiculous, Bella, we're too young to understand love," she said nervously.

Arabella threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, Lily Evans, you cease to amaze me sometimes. Even though James hasn't written you a love note as beautiful as this, he will…and probably will be even more beautiful that this one. No need to get jealous here." She winked.

Lily stared at her best friend, vaguely wondering if she was drunk or had snogged Amos Diggory for way too long. "Jealous? I'm not jealous. I was just saying…I don't want you to get hurt, Bella."

"Don't worry, Lils, I won't. Don't be so overprotective."

Over at the boys' dormitory, Sirius had a triumphant glint in his eyes. "I knew that Bella would surrender to me! The sweetheart." He sighed.

James was desperately trying to make Sirius say that he loved Bella, with the help of Remus and Peter, who had found out what happened.

"So…do you love her, Sirius?" he asked anxiously.

Sirius stopped smiling. "Love her?" he echoed in disbelief. "Of course not! We're thirteen, Jamie-boy, we don't know about love yet. What put an idea like that into your head?"

"Er—nothing."

"But isn't she the perfect girl, Sirius?" began Remus.

"Well, sure, she's gorgeous and smart, but—"

"And she's really loyal, Sirius," added Peter. "She loves you."

Sirius' eyes widened. "She does?"

"Er—of course. Lily told me," said James, feeling extremely guilty for lying to his best friend who would be heartbroken very soon.

"Then, if she loves me, I love her too!" exclaimed Sirius in joy. 

Remus, James, and Peter all exchanged glances. _This means trouble…big time._

-

"Sirius Black, you said in that note that you loved me!" was the moan that Arabella made in the stuffy closet. 

Lily and James were both watching the door tensely. If there was any sign of curses that they were about to throw at each other, they would immediately let them out.

"I didn't write any note!" yelled Sirius, his voice muffled in the darkness. 

"Yes, you did! Here it is, I have proof." They heard the distinct sound of crumbling paper and Sirius' gasp.

"You know what, this is some trick," they heard him rasp. "James."

"Lily," Bella whispered.

"You two let us out!" they both cried in unison.

"Not until you two settle out your differences and get together again," called Lily. "Besides, the notes weren't supposed to be mushy and romantic; Potter just thought he should add some 'texture' into it."

"That was mean, James," cried Arabella. "Though you are a romantic man, I must say," she added as an afterthought.

"What about me?" asked Sirius. Lily laughed and could imagine Sirius pouting in that closet.

"Oh, Sirius, they're right. I'm really sorry."

"So am I, Bella. Together again?"

"Together again."

Lily grinned. "Well…at least they're together again."

"See, Evans, what did I tell you?" bragged James. "It worked!"

"You know Potter, I hate to admit it, but you're right. It did work…somehow." 

James smiled warmly at the redhead. "But I promise I'll listen more carefully to your plans next time."

Lily magically unlocked a kissing Arabella and Sirius, and laughed. "Potter, that has to be a promise."

"I promise."

***

Lily trembled as they finished off their last exam on Thursday. Her face was extremely red and strained, and she sighed happily as they headed off to lunch and the prospect of experiencing a two week-free of exams was refreshing.

"Evans," said James gruffly, "nice show of that Whistling Charm there."

"Thanks Potter." Lily couldn't but help grin slightly at James' downcast face. "Don't worry, Potter, you did fine. Even though it wasn't as good as mine, though I did rather fail at Transfiguration."

James' face brightened. "Yeah…I have to admit, though, you do a lot of good time management. Think you can give me a few tips and pointers?"

"Sure. Here's the motto you should follow: More study, less pranks."

Lily laughed at James' pout that followed the motto. "Well, I think I've finally found my motto."

James grinned. "Mine is: Try your best at studies, but have some fun in life. That should be yours, Evans. You need to have some fun in life."

Lily stiffened. "I don't know…"

"Come over my house this summer, and I'll show you what fun really means, since you barely know what it means now. The Marauders and you four girls. It'll be a blast!"

"And think of all those possible pranks we can play on each other," said Lily, liking the idea. "Sure, I'm in. Have you discussed it with the others yet?"

"Not yet, but they'll be in, too."

It was very true. When James mentioned it to the others, Sirius started to hyperventilate.

"Oh, Jamie-boy, brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" he cried, startling the whole Hall.

"I'd like that," said Arabella, smiling at the prospect of spending the whole summer with Sirius and her best friends.

"For how long?" questioned Remus. They all knew that he would be out for once a month as a werewolf.

"The whole summer!" said James excitedly. "I asked Mum and Dad, and they allowed me to have you guys for the whole summer. Oh, and Remus, we'll think of something for your…problems. Mum and Dad can fix it up; they already know. We have plenty of room, after all, in our house."

"You mean manor," interrupted Remus.

"Mansion," said Sirius. He turned to the three girls and said, "The Potters have an huge mansion with at least fifteen rooms. They're one of the richest and most prominent pureblooded families in the wizarding world."

"Really?" asked Lily, who was astonished.

"Yeah…I guess," said James, flushing. "You didn't have to tell them that much information, Sirius."

"Oh, but Jamie, we already know, so why not share with the girls?" 

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just two more weeks, and we'll be home."

-

"Lily!" cried Mrs. Evans, hugging her daughter. 

"Hi Mum, Dad." Lily returned the hugs she was receiving from her parents and pointedly ignored Petunia, who was standing off the side as usual.

"Mum…James asked me to stay at his house for the summer. May I?" 

"James?" asked Petunia, suddenly speaking.

"You talk?" asked Lily coldly. But Petunia ignored her and continued.

"Is he the one with the hair that looks like he hasn't brushed it in a million years?" she asked, sneering. "Your boyfriend?"

Lily colored. "James Potter is not my boyfriend."

"Then why'd he kiss you?"

"When did he kiss me?" asked Lily, annoyed.

"My dear, James kissed you?" squealed Mrs. Evans, delighted. "Did he really? Oh, Lily, James is a sweet young boy and this is lovely!"

"He's a nice boy," said Mr. Evans gruffly, but Lily saw that he was smiling as well.

"Mum, James is not my boyfriend, Petunia's just trying to annoy me. And she's doing a great job, too." Lily scowled fiercely at her sister.

"But he kissed you?" her mother persisted.

Lily shrugged. "Oh, once or twice this year, I can't remember."

Mrs. Evans squealed again and Mr. Evans' smile widened even more.

"You must be the Evans'," said a warm voice. They turned around to see the Potters standing there, James' hair messy as usual.

"I'm Daniel Potter," said Mr. Potter. Lily saw that he looked remarkably like an older version of James, with untidy black hair, but his eyes were gray instead of brown.

"And I'm Sarah Potter," said Mrs. Potter warmly. Lily gasped when she saw her. She had beautiful soft layers of golden-brown hair that cascaded in waves down her back, and her eyes were exactly likes James': a warm, golden-brown.

"I'm Anna Evans and this is my husband, Steve Evans," said Mrs. Evans, smiling. "I take it that your dear boy James invited Lily over this summer?"

"If you'd agree, that is," said Mrs. Potter, beaming, "we'd love to have Lily and her friends over. After all, James' friends will be over, too, so they'll have a little reunion." She laughed.

"Mum," muttered James under his breath.

Mr. Potter cleared his throat and James jumped.

"Hello, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans," he greeted shyly. Then he grinned at Lily. "Hey Lily, Petunia."

Petunia ignored James completely, and Lily said hello in a civil manner.

"We'd love to have Lily stay with you for the summer," said Mrs. Evans, smiling brightly. 

"Wonderful! Well…come, James, Dan, we must be getting back. We'll be late for that train soon."

"Mum," whined James. "Why couldn't you and Dad come here by broomstick? I have my own in my trunk! Or I could've flown home by myself."

"That's what I said," said Mr. Potter, delighted that his son spoke the same language like him.

"Men," muttered Mrs. Potter. "Of course we couldn't come here by broomstick. I can barely get the broomstick in my hand by saying 'up'. And it's quite dangerous, too, if the wind was blowing too hard and—"

"We understand, Sarah, don't make it such a big deal," said Mr. Potter, rolling his eyes. Lily stifled a giggle.

The Potters then left after parting a good-bye with the Evans. Then Lily got in back of the Evans' car as it started home. It was good to be back. And she had a long summer to look forward to, even if it meant staying at her enemy's house…or, rather, mansion.

- - - -

****

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except for the weird names and characters that I, moi, made up.

This chapter was all right, I suppose, but I didn't expect to update so soon! All right, so it didn't seem so soon, but it did to me. After all, I have so many tests, projects, and other junk in the way :P

Yay! Three more months until school ends! Life is good again! 


	8. Summer of Second Year

Summer of Second Year

__

Lily was wearing a wedding dress and beaming all over. Her face was bright red and flushed, and in her hands were a bouquet of roses and wildflowers. 

The minister had asked her, "Do you, Lily Evans, take this man to be your husband?"

Lily had answered with a strong, "I do."

"And do you, James Potter, take his woman as your wife?"

"I do."

James had lifted her veil up and kissed her lips. The guests were cheering, but Lily barely noticed anything. Her eyes were only for the man in front of her…James Potter.

Lily woke up, her eyes wide. She had the same dream for the past three weeks since she had been staying with the Potters. Her face was always shining proudly, and she saw James' handsome face positively beaming down at everyone in sight. She even once saw Sirius, supposedly the best man, chasing around a mad dog who had stolen his wand. Arabella was also there as the maid-of-honor, where she had burst into tears after Lily and James pronounced their death vows. It was sort of funny, really, the dream. Lily wondered if James had a similar one.

"Lils?" It was Arabella's sleepy voice, and she heard a distinct yawn from her best friend. "You awake again?"

"Go back to sleep, Bells, I'm fine," muttered Lily, rubbing her eyes.

"But—" Arabella was almost wide-awake now.

"Belle," said Lily sternly, causing Arabella to open her eyes widely.

"Belle?" she questioned.

Lily grinned. "It's nice, isn't it? I was getting sick of 'Bella' and 'Bells', so I came up with 'Belle'. Like it?"

"Whatever." Then with a final yawn, Arabella's head propped back down on her pillow and she was immediately fast asleep again.

Lily sighed. Ah, how she and Sirius spoke the same language. Sirius, too, loved to sleep all day and night as well. But James…she needed to see James. Yet she scolded herself for thinking so.

__

He needs his sleep, she thought to herself. _Just like you do. Now…go back to sleep before you wake up anyone else in the house._

Arabella was supposed to have her own room, since there were about twenty rooms in the Potter mansion, but Bella had refused to part with her best friend and insisted on sharing a room with Lily. Lily had groaned at the thought of a snoring Bella, but gave in at the end.

James Potter. She was supposed to **marry **the moron after Hogwarts. Lily hadn't told her parents about it yet. She knew her mum would rejoice and throw a party, her dad would smile silently to himself, and Petunia would look horrified at the prospect of having a boy who hasn't brushed his hair in years as a brother-in-law. 

And Lily, well, Lily wasn't sure what she would be like. When she had found out that James Potter was to be her future husband, and that she'd have a kid and die, sacrificing herself for the baby, it was a huge shock indeed. Lily supposed she didn't hate James so much as she did in her first year, but she didn't like him, either. She supposed the word "dislike" would fit in her feelings for James.

Who knew or cared what he thought. Sure, James was athletic and popular, and sort of cute, but Lily didn't care. She thought that Remus was wonderful, but he was only a brother to her. After all, if Jennifer found out that she liked Remus, the girl would probably tear her up into pieces. Jenny loved Remus to death, and Lily wanted to live a few years longer.

There was a knock on the door and Lily jumped out of the comfortable bed she was snuggled in. Arabella gave a loud grunt in the bed across from her, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Come in," she whispered to the door. The doorknob turned and in came James Potter, his jet-black hair untidy as ever.

Lily's curiosity had faded. "What are you doing here?"

"I had some stupid wedding dream about you and me," he said, desperately trying to shrug it all off. "Stupid, really, how you and I get married and stuff. Especially after the fact that you have that Harry."

"I thought you liked Harry."

"I do. But this stuff is all too annoying. I wish that I could have a normal life like Sirius, Remus, Peter, or all your friends. But it just had to be me. When I told Mum and Dad about that whole future stuff, they were ecstatic. Mum was crying and Dad was smiling. It was hopeless."

Lily smiled slightly. "I haven't told Mum and Dad yet. I know that Mum would overreact more than your mum did. A bit scatter-brained, my mum, but loving, nevertheless." She sighed. "I wish I could get that scene when you kiss me at the wedding out of my mind. It's corrupting my brain."

"I thought it was already corrupted."

"Hey!"

James grinned. "Naturally, since Arabella's a corrupted soul. But then again, so is Sirius. So I'm corrupted, too. Happy now?"

"Of course."

"Why am I here again?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Potter, you're hopeless."

"I know. Wait…it was about that stupid wedding dream, wasn't it?"

"Good job, Potter. You remembered something for once in your life!"

James sniffed. "I'm injured."

"Good."

"That's mean!"

"I'm happy for you Potter. Now git."

"Lils!" Arabella was wide awake again, and yawning. "What are you doing up again? And…what the hell is he doing here?" She sat straight up, eyes wide.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. He just came in here."

"Why?"

She was annoyed. "Do I look like James Potter to you? How should I know?"

"Well, I was directing the question more to James, anyway. He should be answering…James?"

But James had fallen asleep on Lily's half-covered legs. 

"Get him off me!" squealed Lily, flapping her arms helplessly. I'm not sleeping with him in this bed tonight!"

Arabella started laughing loudly, and the door opened again, this time revealing Sirius, his usual hair in messy tufts like James'.

"What's going on here?" he asked sleepily. "Is this some sort of slumber party?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, Sirius, James came in here, we were talking, then he fell asleep on my legs."

Sirius grinned in delight. "So…our favorite couple sharing a bed, eh? How romantic!" He pretended to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye. "Oh, wait 'till Remus hears and he'll—"

"You won't tell him, will you?" asked Lily, though it was useless. Sirius was even more gossipy than some of the most gossipy girls Lily knew—including the dreaded Deanna Jackson.

Sirius snickered. "Nice try, Lils, but maybe next time it might convince me a little bit more."

Lily sighed. "Forget I even tried. But Remus won't tease me too much about it, and neither would Vi, too much, but Jen…" She shivered.

"Why do you think our Remie won't tease you about it?" asked Sirius.

"Because he's really sweet, not like you two hooligans."

"Hooligan?" asked James, sitting up wearily. "What?"

"Oh good, the drool-boy is finally awake. Now, Potter, get out of my bed, or I will force you to."

"All right, all right. Besides, it's my bed. This is my house."

"Yes, it is, but since I'm occupying this bed for the summer, it's currently _mine_."

"Fine, then. Come on Sirius, let's get out of here." James heaved himself off the bed and steered a half-asleep Sirius out of the room and closed the door.

"What was that?" asked Bella, her eyelids slowly drooping.

"Who knows. Let's go to bed before anything else happens. I'm exhausted."

Arabella responded with a thump as her head hit the pillow again.

***

"Lil, you look terrible," commented Jennifer, staring at Lily's blood-shot eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Just a little nighttime interference," replied Lily, glaring at James and Sirius, who were about as tired as she and Bella were.

"Potter and Black, eh?" 

"As always." Lily sighed. 

"You were already awake as it is," snapped James from across the table.

"Kids, don't argue," reprimanded Mrs. Potter.

"Sorry, Mum," said James.

"Sorry, Mrs. Potter," said the others.

"Why did you go into the girls' room, James?" asked Mr. Potter sternly. "You know you're supposed to be staying in your _own _room, or one of you friend's, but not a girl's room. What were you—?"

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Potter, James goes into the girls' dormitory all the time at Hogwarts," interrupted Sirius brightly. James glared at him.

Mrs. Potter dropped her wand. "This—this isn't true, is it, Jamie? Dear God, please say this is another one of Sirius' jokes."

"Er—" James looked at them all nervously. "It—it's true, Mum."

Mr. Potter's face turned sterner and Mrs. Potter nearly fainted. Sirius smiled guiltily at James and mouthed, "Sorry."

"But Sirius goes there more often," he blurted, and grinned at a shocked Sirius.

"Sirius has his own parents to deal with, but we expect more responsibility from you, young man," said Mr. Potter, frowning.

James closed his eyes and waited for the blow. What would it be this time? Getting his Invisibility Cloak confiscated for a week? Locking up his broom for the summer? He shivered at the thoughts.

"Since we have guests at this home this summer, there will be no punishment."

James' mouth opened uncertainly. "Are you serious?" he croaked.

"No, he's Sirius," said Mr. Potter, pointing at Sirius and chuckling.

He groaned. "Not that _again_. It was amusing maybe for the first three times, but it's getting **way **old."

"I still think it's funny," said Mr. Potter, shrugging.

"Mum?"

Mrs. Potter smiled. "Oh, I don't blame you, dear. It's all in the Potter blood, I suppose. When your father and I were at Hogwarts, he visited our girls' dormitory all the time, and we frequently spent the night in there…" She winked.

"That was too much information revealed, Mrs. Potter," said Sirius, looking sick.

"Why, Sirius?" asked Lily teasingly. "Wouldn't you LOVE to do that with Bella?"

Sirius grinned. "Lil, you know me too well."

Jennifer dropped her spoon. "You mean you want to spend a whole night with Bella in the same room?"

"Of course. You obviously don't know me well enough."

"And I definitely don't want to, either. Remus, you knew dog-boy was this perverted?"

Remus nodded. "Who doesn't know? You already know too; you just don't want to hear about it. I suppose it is sickening."

"All right, why are we talking about this?" asked Lily loudly. "Not an appropriate subject for the breakfast table."

"I agree with Lily," said Arabella, speaking up for the first time.

"That's because you're part of the conversation," piped up James.

Arabella glared at him menacingly. Violet and Peter were silent, as usual, and Jennifer was chatting incessantly.

"So," said James, squirming uncomfortably, "want to play Quidditch outside?"

Lily glared at him. "What do you think? No."

"Scared, are you?" James snickered.

"You know I'm afraid of heights," snapped Lily in a slightly wavering voice. 

"Exactly," replied James smugly.

-

"I don't know why I'm doing this," sighed Lily, as she clutched the handle of her broom tightly, her knuckles white. 

"Hey Evans, enjoying yourself?" called James. He was an extremely agile flyer, gliding gracefully across the small Quidditch field.

"No," yelled Lily. "All because of you. You know I can't fly!"

"You're doing fine," said James, smiling sympathetically, as he flew right next to her. "Just a little practice and you'll be a natural."

"I don't want to be," said Lily shakily.

James shrugged. "Fine, do whatever you want, but I'm warning you, you're missing out on very educational stuff here."

"Educational?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Quidditch is supposed to be educational? Or do you mean fun?"

"Same thing." James shrugged indifferently and flew away.

"Argh!" Lily sighed and began to tail up James, though she was a rather slow flyer as well. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bird flew right past her, causing her to slide off her broom, her hands grasping the handle and her feet dangling in mid-air.

James was enjoying himself immensely and decided to check on Lily so he could tease her again. But when he saw her dangling up fifty feet in mid-air, he cried, "Lily! Hold on!" 

He grasped his broom handle firmly and zoomed past the field. When he reached Lily, he told her to swing her legs over his broom and grab the broom floating in mid-air.

"I-I don't know if I can," stuttered Lily. Her large green eyes started to fill with tears.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to you," said James softly. "Now come up here with me and we'll fly down together."

Lily bravely swung her legs over James' broom, grabbed her own broom, and they took off until they reached the ground. 

"James…thanks," mumbled Lily, embarrassed, as she got off his broom. "I guess I'm not a great flyer like you are, though I kind of wish I was."

"It's my fault, Lil, I persuaded you to come fly with me. Forgive?"

"Sure."

"So are we friends?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

"I thought you'd say that."

"So why'd you ask me?"

"I—don't know."

Lily snorted.

When they got back inside, the rest of the friends were playing either chess or Exploding Snap. Jennifer's face was downcast as Remus beat her at chess for the fourth time in a row.

"Remie, can you just let me win for once?"

"Of course not," said Remus practically. "That would be cheating. Now that you've lost so many times to the champion, you learn something every time you lose. That's how you improve."

"You sound just like Professor Wickham," muttered Jennifer.

"Do I?" asked Remus delightedly.

"Now I know why you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor later on, Remus," said James, chuckling. 

"I wonder who I'll favor," said Remus thoughtfully.

"The Gryffindors of course!" cried Sirius, his head peeking from behind an armchair. "Knowing Remus, though, he'll probably be nice to the Slytherins, too."

"Well…" began Remus.

"So you will?" asked Lily incredulously.

"Er—"

"Of course he will; that's Remus for you," said Jennifer, interrupting Remus.

"What she said," finished Remus, smiling gratefully at his girlfriend.

Lily and James both groaned at the same time.

"I hate this love junk," said James grumpily.

"Tell me about it," muttered Lily.

"Why? You guys kiss all the time," stated Jennifer, grinning.

"Do not," they both muttered.

"Do too," chirped Remus.

"Remus, you're supposed to be sensible," chided Lily. "Or—at least you were for a few months last year. Until you were together with Jen; I think she was the one who corrupted you."

"Hey!" cried Jennifer, pouting. Lily laughed.

They were interrupted by the sound of giggling and groaning. As they turned around, Arabella and Sirius were lying together on the couch, and apparently Sirius had started to tickle her.

"How inappropriate," muttered Remus.

"Surely you don't think so, Remie," said Jennifer, smiling. She cuddled up near Remus, and kissed him.

"Ugh," commented Lily, disgusted. Jennifer pulled away and grinned at Lily.

"Come on, Lils, make up with James and be friends. Then you guys will be snogging even worse than Sirius and Bella."

"Hey!" was the response from a Bella who was promptly pulled into a kiss by Sirius.

"Is kissing _all _you guys ever do?" asked Lily, exasperated.

"No…there's also snogging, but pretty much," replied Arabella, before claiming Sirius' lips again.

James made a face, then drew Lily towards him and started to snog her.

"JAMES WHATEVER-YOUR-MIDDLE-NAME-IS POTTER!" she shrieked. "What is the meaning of this?"

James pulled her away and grinned. "I just thought you were a little left out and needed some sugar like the rest of your friends. Even Violet and Peter are doing their own 'thing' back there."

Violet and Peter quickly pulled away, both very red, while Arabella, Sirius, Remus, and Jennifer laughed out loud.

Lily was blushing furiously. "Oh you—"

But before she could finish her sentence, Mrs. Potter had announced that supper was ready. Sirius bounded to the kitchen before any of the others.

"Sirius!" laughed Mrs. Potter, grinning at the hungry boy's glances at the various dishes. "You're eating in the Marauder dining room, remember? Not in the kitchen."

"I know, Mrs. Potter, I just wanted to _see_ the food first."

Mrs. Potter laughed, and Lily asked curiously, "The Marauder dining room?"

"Oh!" Mrs. Potter smiled. "The boys came up with it. We have three dining rooms, and the one where we eat when we have James' friends over was named by all four of them."

"If only they'd study as hard, then they'd do better than me," stated Lily, before she could help herself. Mrs. Potter looked delighted.

"Yes, dear, it's true. How I've tried telling James, but he wouldn't listen at all. Poor boy has enough on his mind just like you, dear. So you will become Lily Potter later on? Though it is much too early to say anything, but I would like to welcome you to the family, Lily. Later on, of course." Her eyes twinkled.

Lily smiled. "Well…James and I aren't exactly on the greatest terms at this moment," she said bluntly.

"Understandable, Lily. Mr. Potter and I got along horribly when we were at Hogwarts until we finally confessed our love during graduation. A bit late, if you ask me, but I'm happy to have James. He is an only child, after all, and I personally think that Sirius, Remus, Peter, as well as you and your friends are part of the family as well. It gets lonely with only the three of us, and James and his father certainly don't think the way I think."

"Oi! Lils! Aren't you eating?" bellowed Arabella from the Marauder dining room. 

"Coming Bells!" called Lily. She went inside the "Marauder dining room" and gasped. 

The ceiling was extremely high with a large crystal chandelier towering above them, majestic and grand. The dining table was large, made of mahogany and lined with gold. Lily stared at it all, unable to believe that a family could be so rich.

"After you're finished admiring the room, Sirius would have already eaten three-quarters of your plate," said James, amused.

"Oh! Sorry." Lily sat down next to Jennifer and began eating with the rest of them.

"Your Mum's a great cook, James," said Arabella, through a mouthful of potatoes. "These are good potatoes 'ere."

"Bells, don't eat with your mouth full," chided Lily.

"Yes, Mother Lily."

"Well—er—actually, my mum didn't make this," said James, his ears going red. "Jacey made it. Well, along with Chad, Rupert, and all the rest of our house-elves."

"You have house-elves?" asked Jennifer, her eyes wide.

"Er—yeah." James' face was now extremely pink.

"You guys are rich!" gushed Arabella.

"Erm—I suppose," replied James, shrugging.

"What do you mean 'you suppose'?" demanded Arabella. "Of course you're—"

Lily cleared her throat and glared at her friend, giving her the "that's-not-very-tactful" look.

"Oh, sorry," muttered Arabella, blushing. James smiled at Lily in gratitude.

"We need to get to Hogsmeade soon, Jamie-boy, my supply of Dungbombs is at stake! I haven't been to Zonko's for ages now," cried Sirius, jumping up and down.

"All right, Sirius, I'll ask Mum if we can all go tomorrow," said James, rolling his eyes. "We definitely need to get Snape back again for telling us off and having us get detentions again."

"Zonko's?" asked Lily, confused. "What's that?"

"It's a joke shop," said James, grinning. "It's where we get all our supplies for our pranks. You know how I turned your hair black? Black dye from Zonko's' best."

"I've heard of Hogsmeade," said Lily vaguely, chewing on a chicken leg. "It's supposed to be the only non-Muggle settlement in Britain and—"

"Yeah, but that's not why it's so cool!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "We'll introduce it all to you, Lils. Honeydukes…The Three Broomsticks…Zonko's…Gladrag's Wizarding Wear…everything!"

"It's the greatest," agreed Remus. "Has every single sweet there is in Honeydukes. Ice Mice, Acid Pops, Cockroach Clusters…"

"We gave Snape one once," interrupted Sirius, grinning. "He nearly choked to death after he swallowed it. Then Remus told us to take him to the Hospital Wing. You shouldn't have done that, Remus, he could have taken ill and never come to Hogwarts again. That definitely would've been sweet revenge. Always the spoilsport, you are." He shook his head, reminiscing at the memory.

Lily snorted. "Wish I could've seen his face."

"It was as white as paint!" cried Peter.

"Paint isn't white, Pete," said Violet, blinking.

"Well…there's such thing as white paint!"

"But—"

"Oh, Violet, loosen up, will you?" joked Arabella. "You're almost as stiff as Lily here."

"Hey!" cried Lily.

"Sorry Lils, but once we get you into Hogsmeade tomorrow, you'll be a whole different person. We should go to Gladrag's Wizarding Wear and get you a dress robe, then go to Dervish and Banges and—"

"We're going to Zonko's," said Sirius, narrowing his eyes.

"Gladrag's!"

"Zonko's!"

"All right, we'll go to both," said James, trying to settle the dispute, "though I'm really not a great fan of going to Gladrag's. Mum always takes me there for dress robes, though. It's always black velvet," he sighed, depressed.

"You need them for all those parties we're invited to, James," said Mrs. Potter sternly, coming into the room. "As a matter of fact, visiting Gladrag's would be a good thing tomorrow. We've been invited to a Midsummer party by the McKinnons and I want you all to have new dress robes."

James groaned. "But Mr. McKinnon works for Malfoy's dad. That means the Malfoys will be there, too!"

Mrs. Potter sighed. "Yes, as well as the Snapes, but I do assure you, James, we will not be socializing with those families."

"Yes, Malfoy's just a big stick-in-the-mud, if you as me," roared Mr. Potter, also coming in. "A no-good, little weasel who'll never succeed in the Ministry."

"Come, Daniel, no need to speak ill of our kind," snapped Mrs. Potter, though she smiled amusedly after her husband. "Though it is rather true, I must say, Lucieta Malfoy and her no-good husband are really a disgrace to the name of wizard."

"Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and their little gang called Lily a 'Mudblood'," stated Jennifer, going furious. "It's an insult to my family as well as Lily! My father's a Muggle and…"

"Jen, calm down," murmured Remus quietly, grasping her hand. Jennifer smiled at him, but her eyes were still angry.

"Did he now?" asked Mr. Potter, standing up.

"The old rat never changed," sighed Mrs. Potter, also going angry. "Well, we'll avoid the Malfoys for sure. And the Snapes, they're no good either."

"Severus Snape has a crush on Lil-y," teased Arabella.

"I share sorrow with you, Lily," said Mrs. Potter sadly, while Mr. Potter roared with laughter.

"Oh, how I'd love to see Snape's boy go heartbroken!" he cried.

"Dan!" cried Mrs. Potter, shocked.

Violet leaned over to the boys and whispered, "I didn't know your parents were so much like…kids."

James grinned. "That's the good thing about them."

***

"Wow…" whispered Lily in awe, as they walked around the village of Hogsmeade. "This place is amazing!"

"It's much better when you don't have to dread the prospect of going to Gladrag's Wizarding Wear and getting dress robes for old Malfoy's dinner party," groaned Sirius.

"I thought it was the McKinnons' party," said Lily.

"It is, Sirius is just being a great prat," replied Arabella, glaring at the miserable boy beside her.

"Well, Mr. McKinnon is probably going to let Malfoy's dad run the whole party, since the whole family's afraid of them."

"Sirius Black, you know that's not true," said Jennifer, matter-of-factly. "The McKinnons are one of the most prominent and powerful wizard families in our world. Besides the Potters, of course." She smiled at James.

James blushed. "Aww…we're not that great."

"Sure you are. Mum told me that your whole family are Heirs of Gryffindor."

James shrugged. "Rumors."

"Not."

"Why are we talking about Heirs of Gryffindor here?" asked Lily crossly. "Where's the store anyway? Come on, as soon as we go in, the sooner we can get it over with."

"Finally, someone agrees with us!" exclaimed Sirius. "I thought all you girls loved to shop, shop, and shop your whole life."

"Don't be an idiot, Sirius, that's Deanna," snapped Arabella.

"She certainly has a lot of make-up on every day," said James, remember several occasions when the Gryffindor girl plastered perfume and lipstick all over her face and strutted around the common room, attracting all the boys' attentions except for the Marauders'.

"All right, let's go in and get it over with," snapped Lily.

Inside was surprisingly cool, which made the eight of them cool down very nicely, for their faces were as ripe and red as a tomato. The radio was on, playing a fast tune by the Weird Sisters, and there were columns of robes, socks, and other garments lined up neatly in rows and shelves.

"May I help you?" asked a young woman politely.

"Er—we're looking for dress robes," said James awkwardly.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Any in particular?" she asked coolly.

When James didn't answer, the woman peered into his face closer and gave a small scream. "You're a Potter, aren't you?"

James shrugged. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Always the Potter manner. How is your family?"

"My family?" repeated James, bewildered. "What about my family?"

The woman chuckled. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know _what_, exactly?"

"That I'm a Potter as well."

James stared at her. "You are not."

"All right, I love how this conversation is going here, but shouldn't we buy the dress robes and get out of here, Jamie-boy?" asked Sirius impatiently.

"Yeah, Sirius," replied James absently, but he turned to the woman again. "You're not a Potter. If you were, I would know you."

The woman laughed. "I'm Leanne Potter, your cousin. Our family is so big; you can barely know everyone in it. Mum told me about you—you're James, aren't you? James Henry Potter?"

"Your middle name's Henry?" questioned Lily, stepping forward. Leanne smiled.

"Is this your girlfriend, James?"

"No," said James crossly. "If you're really my 'cousin', then who's your mum—my aunt?"

"Why, you mean Mum? She's your Aunt Josie, James, it's quite rude to insult your favorite aunt."

James opened his mouth, but snapped it shut. "No—no, you can't be Aunt Josie's daughter. I've been to Aunt Josie's house at least one hundred times in all my life, and I've never seen you before."

Leanne shrugged. "That's because…Mum barely knew that I was alive too. When I was twelve, you were born. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I left England to travel to the States and other parts of the world. I met a young man by the name of Jonathan Harrison, and he proposed to me a year later. I wrote to Mum frequently, since she was so anxious, but Jonathan died from an accident shortly after we were engaged." She sighed. "I stopped writing to Mum after that. I was so overcome from grief that I couldn't bear to face the world any longer. So I bought a flat in the outskirts of London and lived in seclusion. After I stopped writing, Mum was worried and then came to the conclusion that I was dead."

"But—I was five when you left," said James, overwhelmed by her story. "I don't really remember you…"

"That's because I must have changed so much," replied Leanne heavily. "Of course, you were my favorite cousin, and I loved you so much. A few months ago I reunited with Mum and I've been anxiously waiting to meet you for a while."

"Does the rest of the family know?"

"Every person, including your parents. You're the only Potter who doesn't know."

"All right, I believe you."

Leanne grinned. "Good. Now, why don't you introduce me to your friends here, James."

"Oh—er—this is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, my best friends. And this is Arabella Figg, Jennifer Dean, and Violet Walker, my other three friends."

"What about this young redhead?"

"That's Lily," said James blatantly, earning a glare from his enemy. "We don't—er—exactly like each other." He decided to leave out the future stuff for later.

"Definitely not," stated Lily, poking her tongue at him. 

Leanne laughed. "I like young love."

"It's not young love!" cried the two, blushing.

"Yeah, yeah. All right, you need dress robes, do you? Don't worry, I'm an expert, I'll get you settled in a jiffy…"

Twenty minutes later, the eight of them came out with heavy bundles of different colored dress robes for each of them.

"What a nice way to meet long-lost cousins," said James dryly, as they headed off to where Mr. and Mrs. Potter were. 

"James! Finally…I was worried," said Mrs. Potter, waving at them anxiously.

"I met Leanne Potter," was James' short response.

Mr. Potter cleared his throat and shifted nervously. "So—what do you think of her?"

"I still don't quite believe her."

"That's understandable. Of course, we believed her right away, because we've known Leanne all our lives. You, of course, were only five when she left home. By looking at her good-humored ways and natural smile, we could easily tell it was her, especially your Aunt Josie. She nearly cried a whole river when she saw Leanne standing at her doorstep."

***

"God, do I hate this," said James impatiently, squirming into his dress robes. "Malfoy and Snape are going to be crying by the time they see me in this thing."

"It's not too bad," said Sirius, admiring himself in the mirror. "I do look good, don't I?"

James snorted. "Sirius, I don't give a Galleon about how you look. What about me?"

"Why, want to impress Lily?"

He ignored him. "Well…so, how do I look?"

"Like a Malfoy."

"Very funny."

"I'm serious."

"I know you're Sirius, I haven't forgotten your name you know." James smirked.

Sirius groaned. "Not this again. I thought you said that that joke is as old as the hills."

"I know. I just want to get on your nerves since you're getting on mine."

After the two boys got downstairs, the girls were already waiting for them. James was very impressed with Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet, but Lily was who really caught his attention. She was wearing elegant dress robes of light green, bringing out the brilliance of her eyes, and her hair was in ringlets. She smiled awkwardly at James as he continued to stare and gape openly at her.

"Any day now, James," said Mr. Potter, chuckling.

James snapped out of his trance. "Huh? What did you say?"

"Heads-over-heels," muttered Sirius.

"Oh yeah, Lils, would you be my escort and partner?" he asked politely, directing his attention fully to the redhead again.

"Er—sure," said Lily, trying hard not to giggle; though she thought that James looked rather cute.

"Thanks," he said happily, grinning from ear-to-ear. Lily distinctly saw Arabella roll her eyes, and she stifled a laugh.

Jennifer smiled, and whispered something in Remus' ear, and he smiled as well. Then they both leaned over and told Arabella and Sirius, and they smiled, too.

"All right, what are you all smiling about?" asked Lily loudly. "It's probably something about me and James…isn't it?"

"You'll find out," said Violet, grinning mysteriously. Lily groaned.

"Probably going to play matchmaker again," said James, rolling his eyes. "Bells and Siri-boy are trying to get us back for matchmaking them."

"Nah, I'm actually thankful that you did, James, or else Sirius and I would still be fighting, since we're too damn stubborn to make up with each other," said Arabella genuinely.

"Wow, Bella, that must be the most sentimental thing you've ever said in your life!" cried Lily, grinning at her friend teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," muttered the other girl.

-

"Lily! What a pleasant surprise!" Running towards her was none other than Severus Snape. Lily groaned inwardly as he gave a short bow to her.

"Would you like to be my escort?" he asked hopefully.

But before Lily could reply, James said coldly, "Sorry, Snapie, but Lily's _my_ escort."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "She is not. She's mine."

"I'm sorry, Severus, but James asked me before and I said yes," replied Lily, her cheeks red.

"Really?" He looked as if he were going to cry, but restrained himself quickly. "Well, I'd better go find Lucius and Evan." Then he strolled off, muttering furiously about Potter always stealing everything he tried to grasp.

"I feel sort of bad for him," said Lily wistfully, watching the boy angrily talk to Malfoy.

"Does this mean you're going to ditch me for the greasy kid?" asked James helplessly. He didn't want to lose Lily just then.

Lily laughed. "Of course not! It just never occurred to me that Slytherins like Snape actually had feelings. I just assumed they were just blocks of ice that wouldn't allow anyone to break through their cold exterior."

"Very poetic," commented James, relieved that Lily wasn't about to dump him for Snape.

"You didn't think I'd dump you off for Snape, did you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Er—yeah, I actually did."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Why did you think that?"

"Because you hate me."

"Look, I don't 'hate' you, I 'dislike' you."

"Same thing."

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut. "Yeah, I suppose it does."

The music then started, and many adults and teenagers were on the floor, dancing. 

"So…want to dance?" asked James uncomfortably.

"Sure," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

They started dancing to the slow tune, and were soon the main couple on the dance floor. James' elegant moves and Lily's graceful steps made them admired by both the grown wizards and the younger wizards. Mrs. Potter was wiping her eyes, smiling, and Mr. Potter was grinning. Along the side, the six other friends were smiling like maniacs, and Sirius muttered to Arabella, "You owe me five Sickles."

The couple, however, did not impress Snape, Malfoy, and their little gang of Slytherins at all.

"Potter stole my girl," mumbled Snape, glaring at James menacingly.

"Why would you want a Mudblood for a girl anyway, Severus?" asked Wilkes, wrinkling his nose.

"Yeah, think about what your father would say if he found out," said Rosier, frowning.

"She's not a Mudblood," said Snape quietly. "She's more than that. Much more."

"Well, what more can she be?" snapped Malfoy impatiently. "First of all, she's a Mudblood. Second of all, she's dancing with Potter and is friends with Potter and his little pathetic gang. She's not even pretty!"

"To me, she's beautiful."

"Snape, get over it," said Lestrange, rolling his eyes. "Though Maria Santiago is very attractive, don't you think?" He was referring to one of the prettier Slytherin girls (even though there aren't any), who hated nearly everyone in sight except for himself.

"She'd be pretty fine if she didn't hate all of us," said Rosier thoughtfully.

"Still…your father would be furious, Severus, if he found out," said Wilkes quietly. "I mean, he hates Mudbloods."

"Lily is NOT a Mudblood!" screeched Snape. "I…I love her."

The other Slytherins nearly fell out of the chairs they were sitting in. 

"You're in love with a Mudblood, Snape?" asked Malfoy incredulously. "How low can you get?"

"Severus, we'll be keeping your mind off that Evans girl," said Lestrange smoothly. "After all, we are entrusted to serve under our Lord…"

"You're right, Lestrange, the Dark Lord needs us to gain power so he can rule the wizarding world," said Snape, smiling evilly. "Come, I'm going to find Father and discuss our plans."

"Looks like Snape 'loves' you, Evans," said James, snorting into his Yorkshire pudding as he heard Snape's outburst. "Poor thing."

"I thought you hated Snape, Potter," said Lily, frowning. 

"Oh, I do, I was saying that you were the poor thing."

"Yeah…right. Whatever."

***

"Can you believe there's only two more weeks until Hogwarts is opened again?" asked Arabella, sighing. "It seems like the summer's been so short."

"Yeah. I'm going to miss it here. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are really nice people. But I am looking forward to entering that nice old castle again. I feel much more at home at Hogwarts than in my own home."

"Well, you're going to have to like James' parents, since they'll be your mother- and father-in-law," said Jennifer brightly.

"Whatever," said Lily, not paying any attention to what they were saying.

"You know, Lils, you say 'whatever' too many times."

"Whatever."

"Have a better attitude than that, young lady," said Arabella sternly.

"Wow! For a moment there, Bells, I thought you sounded like McGonagall," said Lily, impressed.

The four girls smiled at each other and laughed, and Lily looked through the window. Tomorrow they would be going to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the Third Year. The Potter Mansion was very nice, but she wanted to get back to Hogwarts again—her real home.

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for some of the insignificant characters like…Jennifer, Violet, Professors Wickham and Hurst, etc. J.K. Rowling owns Arabella Figg along with the familiar characters. Yes, Arabella Figg _is _a real character; if you read the fourth Harry Potter book carefully, they mention her slightly at the second to last chapter. Called "The Parting of the Ways", or something, I dunno.

Yes, I know, this chapter was abominable, but I'm sorry, I'm having Writer's Block right now along with a lot of schoolwork, projects, and tests. I'll promise that the chapters in the summer will be MUCH better! And that's only like what…three months away?


	9. Third Year: Part One

Year Three – Part One

Lily dragged her trunk as she looked up to the familiar Hogwarts Express sign above her head. She heaved it into an empty compartment and began to wait for her friends. Several minutes later, three girls stumbled into the compartment, laughing like crazy. Arabella's brown curls were loose and tumbling down her shoulders, while Jennifer's length blond hair was frizzy.

"Where are on earth were you three?" asked Lily, frowning. "And why are you laughing?"

"Oh Lily," said Arabella gleefully, with tears in her eyes. "Snape…he just said to the whole train that he was in love with you! Then Malfoy dragged him off somewhere else, muttering something about Snape getting drunk. It was priceless!"

"Bella," sighed Lily. 

"Didn't think Snape would still like a thing like you, Evans," came a familiar voice. All four girls turned around to see the famous Marauder and heartthrob of Hogwarts, James Potter, along with the rest of his gang.

"Shut up, Potter," snapped Lily.

"Not again," said Violet, moaning. "Lily, why can't you and James be friends and get it done with?"

"Because, Vi, I am not becoming friends with an egotistical jerk like Potter," snapped Lily angrily. "You know, _James_, life would be a whole lot better if you didn't _strut _around the school like you owned the place. Really, why can't you be more like Harry?"

"Because my parents aren't dead because of some psychotic wizard, that's why," said James nonchalantly.

"How dare you!" growled Lily.

"Will you guys grow up?" asked Jennifer, rolling her eyes. "Really, Lils, I expected you to be together with James. After all, you guys are in your third year already! And we're starting new subjects!" she cried gleefully.

"Yes, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," said Lily happily. James' jaw dropped.

"No way am I going to be in my two new subjects with you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sirius, Remus, Peter and I signed up for the same subjects too!"

"How dare you!" cried Lily, yet again.

"It won't be so bad," said Jennifer, staring dreamily at Remus.

"Well, at least your enemy isn't in all your classes!" 

"That's because, apart from all the Slytherins, I don't have any enemies, Lil. Unlike you, making enemies as you go along."

"And it's because you and Remus will be snogging the whole time during Divination. I wonder who's the Divination professor."

"It's that fraud, Trelawney," said Sirius, informing them all. "She's the idiot who tells everyone they're going to die."

"Well, I don't need to be told now that I'm dying, since I already know," said Lily grumpily.

"Arabella?" They all turned around to see Amos Diggory standing near their compartment door, and realized that they were having such a heated conversation that they barely heard the door slide open.

"Hello, Amos," said Arabella coldly.

"I was wondering if we're still on," he said sweetly.

"And you would think that, why?"

"Because no girl dumps me for very long," he replied smugly.

"Well, I'm together with Sirius again, and nothing's going to pull us apart," said Arabella, smiling at Sirius.

Amos scowled. "You little rat. No girl dumps Amos Diggory. I'm supposed to be the one who dumps them!" He suddenly clapped his hand over his mouth, realizing what he had just said.

"Don't you dare call her a rat, you…you…" Lily struggled to find words to describe him.

"Ah, Lily, I suppose you would like to go out with me to Hogsmeade? After all, you are a third year this year and perhaps we can get a bit of butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks."

"No thank you, Amos, I think I'll pass on the offer," said Lily coldly.

James breathed a sigh of relief, but unfortunately, everyone heard it. Sirius and the girls, minus Lily, sniggered loudly, and Remus and Peter smiled thoughtfully. Lily, however, was blushing as red as James was.

"Why would you care, James? You don't even like her!" snapped Amos.

"Well, we're getting along better than we used to, Diggory," said James, frowning.

"Whatever."

"You sound like a girl when you say that, Diggory," said Sirius angrily.

"So do you, Black."

"Well, I don't say 'whatever' all the time, Diggory."

"So…James," said Amos, sneering. "You like Lily, huh? I thought you only went for the blondes."

James reddened. "Shut up, Diggory. I've never dated before in my life."

"What about Miss Deanna Jackson?"

"_She _was the one who gave me a Love Potion!"

"Yes, yes. And now Lily has caught your attention?"

There was a tense silence as James' knuckles tightened. Sirius squirmed uncomfortably and Lily's green eyes were wide. When James was mad, he would take any action. To their surprise, his arms lowered, though still glaring at Amos.

"Get away, Diggory, before you'll be sorry."

Amos' eyes looked frightened, as he slid open the compartment door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Bloody brilliant, Jamie-boy!" cried Sirius, impressed. "You didn't even use violence?"

"Why would I, Sirius? It would frighten the ladies." He smiled warmly at the girls, who were hunched back near Remus and Peter, shaking.

"Are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

Arabella smiled. "Yeah, James, we're fine. Thanks."

"For what?"

"For not using violence in front of us. You know—er—how we don't exactly like violence."

"LILY LOVES JAMES!" cried Sirius suddenly, startling them all.

"Er—Sirius? That was totally random," stated his girlfriend, wrinkling her nose.

"I know that, Bella dear, but I am a random person, after all."

"And I don't love Lily," added James grumpily.

"Yeah, you do," said Remus, now joining the conversation.

"Why are all you guys' favorite conversations about us?" asked Lily rather snappily. "Do you ever give us any peace around here? And we're not even at Hogwarts! Goodness!" She collapsed into the chair again and took out _Hogwarts, A History_.

"Why do you bother reading that stuff?" asked James lazily, as he stared into the clear, blue September sky. "It's so…boring."

"It's fascinating, once you start reading it," mumbled Lily, her nose almost touching the page.

"Don't you read it _every_ year, Lils, on the Hogwarts Express?"

"Well, you should re-read books, you know. It's good for the soul."

"I think that _Quidditch Through the Ages _is a good book," said James proudly. "I've read it twice."

"I've read _Hogwarts, A History _twenty times," said Lily loftily, her nose still in the thick book. "Of course, I would have read it twice as much if you didn't bother me at Hogwarts twice as much…"

"**Twenty **times? Bloody hell, that's too many times!" cried James. "Why don't you have fun in life? Haven't I showed you fun yet this summer? I told you on the train home in our second year that I'd invite you over the summer to show you what fun really is about. And has all that time been wasted by schoolwork?"

Lily slammed her book shut and opened her mouth to speak, but then clamped it shut. It was true that she had learned what fun really meant that summer—and all thanks to James.

"Fine, I admit it, I did learn what fun really meant, James. All thanks to you." With that, she hugged him briefly and returned to her book, smiling slightly with red cheeks.

Everyone else tried not to laugh at James' open mouth and red face. His face took on one of those dreamy looks reserved for Lily, and he sighed happily. Arabella, along with Jennifer and Violet, had burst out laughing. The boys were still silent, smiling at their friend. Yes, James was definitely in love all right. They could all see it in his eyes and his every move. It was too obvious, though he wouldn't admit it at all.

"What all you all laughing at?" he asked, confused. That made them laugh harder and James more confused.

Lily was blushing like crazy. "Er—you know, guys, maybe you should stop laughing."

Arabella grinned at her best friend evilly. "C'mon, Lils, kiss Jamie."

Lily's smile faded. "WHAT?"

"Kiss him."

"NO WAY AM I GOING TO KISS JAMES POTTER! WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?"

"Geez, don't get so touchy, she was only joking," said Sirius, grinning.

"Well, she had better be!" exclaimed Lily. "I'm not kissing Potter. Never."

"Is that a promise?"

Lily hesitated. "No. Because I know we'll probably end up 'loving' each other. Just not now."

***

"Sirius Black, how can you eat so much?" asked Arabella, staring at her boyfriend as he gobbled down everything there was on the table. 

"Hey," he said through a mouthful of pudding, "at least you don't have to worry about me becoming anorexic."

James and Remus snorted into their own Yorkshire pudding and Jennifer frowned.

"That's not a joking matter," she said firmly.

"Jen, don't worry, Sirius was just fooling like always," said Remus, a plead in his gray eyes as he reached out for her hand. "Don't take it seriously."

Jennifer smiled. "I suppose."

"Good."

James groaned. "You guys are always sweet on each other. Why don't you just get married and begone with it?"

They both glared at him. "Because we're way too young." Jennifer and Remus looked at each other in surprise.

"Lily, why aren't you eating?" asked Violet, concerned.

Lily sighed. She just wasn't in the mood to eat. Her thoughts were all jumbled together as she poked her fork into her potatoes, and bit her lip. The future. It was what was tormenting her and James' lives. If only they didn't get married and get on to hating each other for the rest of their lives. Then Harry would no longer exist and defeat evil…Oh, it was all so confusing!

"Are you all right?" asked Remus quietly.

"Oh!" she cried in a high-pitched tone. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."

"You don't sound like it," said James, frowning.

"Why would you care?" she snapped. "You hate me."

"I don't—" he began, but she cut him off and started to eat furiously, an appetite that would rival Sirius'.

"Whoa, slow down there, Flower!" he exclaimed, staring at Lily. "You eat more than I do!"

"I don't think that's possible, Sirius," she said, grinning. "Want to have a contest?"

"You're on, girl."

Ten minutes later, Lily was smiling triumphantly at Sirius, who was groaning over a bad stomachache. 

"Go to Madame Pomfrey," she suggested, her eyes softening at the groaning boy.

"No, she'll perform surgery on me," he said, clutching painfully at his stomach.

"I'm sorry for making you do the stupid contest," Lily offered.

Sirius shook his head. "Nah, I was too thick to accept the dare."

Arabella and James cleared their throats and Lily jumped.

"What?" she asked, annoyed. "What did I do now?"

"You do know you guys are flirting, right?" asked Bella, rather testily.

"Uh…sorry Bella, that's _your _area of expertise. I don't 'flirt' with boys."

"Well, thanks for lying to me, James," said Arabella angrily, as James started to crack up, causing all the other Gryffindors to stare at them. "Now my best friend is mad at me and my boyfriend thinks I'm cracked."

"S-so sorry, B-Bella, b-but it's j-just t-too funny!" choked James, still laughing.

"Er—" It was one of the fifth year prefects, and she was looking at James like he was crazy. 

"What?" he asked.

"Er—you know everyone else in the Great Hall already left, right?"

James looked around. Surely, everyone did leave, even Sirius, Remus, Peter, and the girls. He quickly rushed out of the Hall, and stopped in front of the Fat Lady, who sighed at the sight of him.

"Password? Dear me, it's another year, isn't it, James Potter?"

"Er—Sherbet Lemon?" he asked tentatively. It _had _been the password on the first day last year, so he assumed it would be this year, too.

"Certainly not!" the Fat Lady exclaimed.

"Er—oh damn, where's that prefect I was with a minute ago?"

"You mean me?" The girl was standing there, her prefect badge shining down all the way in the corridor.

"Yeah. What's the password?"

"Cornish Pixies," the girl said to the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open, revealing the old portrait hole leading to Gryffindor Tower.

"Jamie-boy! Where were you?" Sirius was running towards him, looking rather worried.

"All right, why'd you ditch me, Sirius?" asked James loudly.

"I didn't. Dumbledore announced something and told us to all go to bed. We all got up, and you were still zoned out somewhere, so I poked you. You said something about coming up later, so I went with the others. Then when you didn't show up later, I thought that you and Snape were dueling in the dungeons or something." He shrugged. "Where _were _you, anyway?"

"Trying to get into Gryffindor Tower. I didn't know the password."

"R-ight. Well, we'd better go up to bed, Jamie-boy. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. But we get to visit Hogsmeade this year!"

"Yeah. That's the only good thing besides Quidditch. And…our secret plan to become you-know-what."

***

"If Trelawney predicts my death one more time, I swear I'll kill her," muttered James, as he stared blankly into his star chart. 

"What does it all mean?" asked Sirius, poking the same chart in front of him with his wand. "It makes no sense at all."

"That's because there is no sense to it, Siri-boy. So we'll make it up."

"Jamie, that's a genius plan! Ah, what would I do without you."

"You wouldn't be able to do anything, because I'm your savior."

"Er—right. So let's get started."

Half an hour later, both boys brandished their parchments, which were filled with fake predictions, proudly to the girls.

"Isn't it brilliant?"

"'Next Thursday, I will be attacked and eaten by the giant squid in the lake'," read Arabella, peering at Sirius' parchment. "Er—Sirius, it's too obvious that none of this is going to happen. You go to Azkaban because you betrayed James? That's ridiculous!"

"Maybe not." He shrugged. "Hey, I was running out of ideas! Let's see how you girls are going to bluff up the homework that Trelawney gave us."

"We don't have to," said Lily practically, as she joined them. "We finished it two days ago. And it's all _accurate _too."

"You **understand **what the mad woman's trying to make us do?" asked James, his mouth sagging open?

"Yeah. Even though it's all a bunch of nonsense, we still know how to do it." Violet rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard."

"All you do is choose the planet that's two squares away from the one you're doing," said Jennifer, trying not to laugh. "It wasn't too hard to figure out."

"What? How come we never knew that?"

"I told you, Sirius, but you wouldn't listen," sighed Remus, shaking his head.

"You mean you finished too?" asked James furiously. "And you never told us how to do it?"

"I tried," said Remus, shrugging. "You two wouldn't listen, though."

"We would too!" exclaimed Sirius, pretending to look "injured".

"You said it was a bunch of crap," he said seriously.

James' eyes widened and he put his hand on Remus' mouth. "Sh…don't say it, Remie."

"Thanks a lot, Remus," said Sirius sourly.

"Well, it _is _a bunch of crap," admitted Jennifer, trying to save her boyfriend from getting killed.

"Well, I'm glad you think so, Jen, because it's the truth," said Sirius proudly. The other three girls rolled their eyes.

Lily and James were off in their own worlds again. It happened quite frequently, now that they started to have those dreams about Harry again. When James looked over Lily, his stomach lurched. It had been two years since they've known each other, and they were already in their third year. He thought of Lily as a friend now, not someone he hated. Of course, it was a ridiculous notion, for Lily hated him, and he still didn't like her too much to be her friend. No…he wasn't ready just yet to become friends with Lily.

"Hello? Earth to Lily and James Potter!" said Sirius, waving his hand in front of their faces.

Both turned extremely red. "We're not Lily and James Potter."

"Then who are you?"

"Lily Evans and James Potter."

"You mean Lily soon-to-be-Potter and James Potter."

James sighed, exasperated, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Talk about idiots," she muttered.

"James!" exclaimed Sirius suddenly, scrambling to his feet. "We—have to work on the potion."

The girls gave them quizzical looks as James' face went white. He dragged the other three boys with them to their dormitory, while Jennifer raised her eyebrows.

"Do you guys have a feeling they're not telling us something?"

"I always have that feeling with them," said Arabella, rolling her eyes.

"Probably doing something against the school rules…again," said Lily, bored. "Is it ever surprising, Jenny? They're born troublemakers."

"Yeah…but I have a feeling that they're doing something, well, illegal," said Jennifer uneasily. "I'm going to spy on them."

"Whatever you say, Jen," said Violet, staring off into space.

"Are any of you coming with me?" asked Jennifer incredulously. Her face fell when the three other girls shook their heads.

"What's the point?" asked Arabella lazily. "They're probably plotting their next prank on Snape."

Jennifer left and returned five minutes later, her face looking disappointed.

"Well, what did you learn?" asked Lily, her nose buried in _Hogwarts, A History_.

"Nothing," she replied grumpily. "Even Remie wouldn't tell me anything, and he always tells me something about what they plan. They all told me to go away and mind my own business when I asked."

"Potter's going to be in for it," said Lily, through gritted teeth. "Oh, how I'd love to get my hands on that ego of his and shrink it so he'll feel so ashamed of himself that he'll—"

"Lils, I'm surprised at you! After actually staying at his house over the summer and sharing a bed with him, you still hate him?" Arabella put on a surprised face. "How could you?"

"First of all, Belle, I did _not _share a bed with James Henry Potter. Second of all, I—"

"What's this about Jamie-boy's middle name?" asked Sirius curiously, as the boys came into the common room.

"What's it to you, Black?" snapped Jennifer. "You're the ones who kicked me out when I was just wondering what you were doing."

"Yeah—um, that's what we—er—came here to talk to you about." Sirius shifted nervously and glanced over to Remus.

"Jenny, you know I'm a"—he kept his voice down—"a werewolf."

"Yeah?" Jennifer was squinting at the foursome suspiciously.

"So—the guys decided to do something to help me," he continued nervously. "And—well—" He stared around at his three friends. "Guys, I can't do this."

"Then don't," said James, stepping forward. "Look, girls, we'll tell you when we're ready, but what we're doing is really dangerous, and we can't have you know just yet."

Lily, Arabella, and Violet shrugged, but Jennifer still looked between the four. 

"Why can't you tell us?" she asked, biting her lip. "Is it that important that you can't even tell your friends?"

"Look, Jen, we don't really care," said Arabella, standing up. "When they're ready, they can tell us, but for now, just let it go."

"You know, Remus means a lot to me," continued Jennifer, ignoring Arabella. "If you don't tell me what's wrong with him…"

"There's nothing wrong with him!" said Sirius quickly. "You know, we're just trying to help him during his transformations and—" He clapped his hand over his mouth in horror.

"You're trying to keep a werewolf in check?" asked Jennifer in disbelief. "You could get killed!"

"Jen," said Lily softly, also stepping forward. "They're big boys, they can handle whatever they're going to do."

"I know, but they're so foolish, and Remus could bite any of them…" She trailed off, and ran to the girls' dormitory, tears spilling from her eyes.

Arabella rounded on the four boys like an angry hippogriff. "Thanks a bunch, you two." She, along with the other two girls, ran up to comfort Jennifer.

Remus stared at his friends, his eyes blank. "Now she hates me," he said bluntly. 

"Remus, Jen will get over it," said James, trying to feel as confident as he sounded. "Er—it just needs time, like with Sirius and Bella."

"They were different," he said quietly. "Jenny, she can be stubborn sometimes."

James laughed uncomfortably. "Sirius and Bella are more stubborn than anyone we've known."

"I know. But still."

"We know, Remus. We'll help Jennifer understand."

-

"Those bloody prats," growled Arabella, putting her arm around Jennifer. "Why, I ought to kill 'em all. Especially that bloody Remus, oh how he'll get it…"

"Bells," said Lily sternly. "Jen doesn't need this now."

"R-Remus, w-why won't he t-tell me w-what they're up t-to?" sobbed Jennifer.

"Because he's a bloody prat," said Arabella bitterly. Lily glared at her.

"Maybe it's too important for them to tell us, Jenny. You know how they are, secretive about everything. Besides, we can't know everything about their personal lives; they're bound to have some privacy." She chuckled weakly.

Jennifer sniffed and wiped her eyes, smiling. "You're right Lily. I shouldn't be moping around here, crying my eyes out for my own selfish reasons. Remus is a sweet guy; how can I _ever _dump him just because he won't tell me what he and his friends are up to? Oh, I'm so ashamed!" She buried her face in her arms, very red.

"Don't worry, Jen, Remus is the good sort," said Lily comfortingly, "he'll forgive your little outburst."

"Thanks Lil, I'm going to go and find him."

Then everything ended just fine for both thirteen-year-olds.

***

Winter had arrived, and the eight teenagers often huddled near the fire when they did their homework. On this particular night, however, Arabella Figg was completely fed up with her life.

"Maybe I'll burn myself like they did in the Witch Burnings of the Sixteenth Century," she said gloomily.

"You're thirteen and you want to commit suicide?" asked James in disbelief. He was sitting next to the fire (literally) and reading _101 Ways to Improve Your Quidditch Skills_.

"I just can't wait until the holidays," she said, looking depressed. 

"Mum is actually letting me stay for the holidays," said Lily, looking cheerful.

James groaned. "I'm staying too. That means I have to be with you for two weeks?"

"How pleasant," said Lily sarcastically, sinking into her chair again. "Well, I still have to finish my Charms essay."

"Are you kidding me?" asked James incredulously. "You already have two rolls of parchment! How much more do you have to _write_?"

"You see, Potter, this is why you're failing Charms," said Lily practically, scribbling on her parchment. "You never go the extra mile."

"What mile? Is this some sort of race?"

Jennifer and Arabella both slapped their foreheads at the boys' confused faces. "Daft," they both muttered.

"It's a figure of speech," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "Going the extra mile means doing more than required."

"Oh…well, in that case, no, I never run the extra mile," said James, obviously still confused. Arabella burst out laughing.

"So this is how daft you've become!" she exclaimed, chuckling.

Lily smiled, shaking her head. _What idiots for friends I have, _she thought. _Poor Potter – though he does look kind of cute when he's confused. Yeah, I think this is from lack of sleep._

-

Lily was twisting and turning as she tried to sleep. Suddenly, the world became blissful for her as she dreamed she was bouncing on clouds, and she sat up straight, drenched in sweat.

"I have to go back to sleep…" she mumbled to herself thickly, as she drifted to sleep again.

__

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off…" 

It was the sound of James panicking and Lily crying as a jet of green light burst through and James hit the floor, dead.

"JAMES!" Lily screamed, jumping out of bed. Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet woke up, their eyes wide.

"Lily? What's wrong?"

"James…he's dead…he's dead…" mumbled Lily. "He's dead, I have to go see him. He protected me and Harry, and he's dead."

The three other girls exchanged dark glances at each other.

"It was only a dream, Lily," said Arabella quietly. "Maybe you should go see Dumbledore again—"

"Good idea, Bells, I'll do that," said Lily quickly, and tore out of bed. In the common room sat James, wide-eyed.

"James? What are you doing here?" James turned around, surprised to see Lily.

"Lily? What are you doing here?"

"I had a dream," they both said in unison. 

Lily stared at him. "James—you're alive," she choked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, confused. "You're alive."

"And I'm supposed to be dead?"

"I had a dream about you trying to protect Harry and then…dying, trying to risk your life saving him."

"I had a dream about you trying to hold off the wizard who killed us and give me time to take a run for it with Harry."

James held on to Lily tightly. "Look, Lily, we're both alive, and that's a good thing. Now, let's get back to bed before we fall asleep in Transfiguration tomorrow."

Lily chuckled. "Let's."

"Lils, are you okay?" asked Arabella, as she nearly pounced on her best friend. "You—you just disappeared and I was so worried and…"

"It's all right, Bella, I'm fine," said Lily, getting choked by her friend. "Now, if you'd let go of me…"

"Oh—right," said Arabella, blushing.

-

The next day, Lily and James weren't talking. They had just had an intimate talk last night, and James had gotten himself his very first girlfriend, not counting Deanna. He had finally noticed how many girls there were at Hogwarts, he told Sirius, and how many he'd have to go through to find his "true" girlfriend. Lily was furious about what he had said, and didn't talk to him for the rest of the week. She hated Melissa Andrews, the girl James was currently "dating".

"He chose that little idiot after all the nice girls he could have chosen," said Lily furiously. "What about Lucieta Samson? She's in Ravenclaw and the nicest girl ever!"

"James is an idiot, Lily, what's said is said," said Arabella practically. "He only goes through the idiotic girls in this school and would never look at someone like poor Lucy twice. I wish he'd look at you like he looks at Andrews, Lily. You're perfect for someone with a big ego like him."

Lily laughed bitterly. "I would never want James Potter to look at me that way. Who'd marry him anyway?"

"Well, you did," admitted Jennifer, trying to look for her wand.

"Who knows, maybe he finally grew up when I married him."

"James Potter, _grown up_?" exclaimed Violet, surprised. "What madness is this?"

"Good job, Vi!" cried Jennifer in approval. "Let's claim this day as 'Speak-Ill-of-James-Potter' Day!"

Lily snorted. "You guys are such dorks."

Jennifer, Violet, and Arabella linked arms. "Aren't we though? Dorks and proud of it!"

Lily laughed.

***

"Hey Lily, can I talk to you?" asked James nervously. He knew that Lily was furious with him and was afraid to "liven" her up, as Sirius called it.

"No," said Lily angrily. "Go away Potter."

James grinned. "Oh, touchy. Come on Evans, you can't hide away from me forever."

"Oh, yes I can," said Lily defiantly. She pushed him away and walked off to her next class—Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Hey! Wait! I haven't finished yet!" Lily heard James calling her, but she ignored him completely. Why would she want to talk to him? He had the biggest ego in the world, not to mention having about groups of twenty girls swarming him every day. She was sick of it all. 

"Why would I want you to finish?" she asked him coldly, as James caught up with her. "You have the biggest ego out of every male there is in this school, and you take advantage of all the girls who swarm around you. What's your problem?"

"Lily, I—"

"Stay away from me, James Potter. I don't want to be involved with players like you. Who knows, maybe I'll be in one of those traps of yours like all those other girls." She swung her bag over her shoulder and entered the classroom.

"Am I late, Professor?" she asked, ignoring James' feeble protests.

"No, no, Lily, you're right on time," replied Professor Wickham, smiling at his student. "Now, where is Mr. Potter—?"

As if right on cue, James burst into the classroom. "Professor," he gasped. "I—I hope I'm on time." 

"Yes, James, right on time. However, I would advise you and Ms. Evans to maybe arrive a little earlier next time." His eyes twinkled as he winked at Lily and James as they sat down.

"Yes, Professor," said Lily politely. James grunted and took his seat beside Sirius, while Lily sat next to Arabella.

"Where were you?" mouthed Arabella, as Lily sat down.

"I'll tell you later," Lily mouthed back.

As class started, Lily took her dutiful notes as usual, while Arabella slept (as usual). Remus was too absorbed in his note taking, and Peter too absorbed in sleeping, to notice Sirius and James' serious (no pun intended) conversation.

"What was that all about?" whispered Sirius, as he took some random notes about goblin rebellions.

James was trying his best to avoid the topic. "Sirius, why are you writing about goblin rebellions?" he asked hastily. "This is Defense Against the Dark Arts, not the History of Magic class."

"What—oh! Well, you know, all the notes are the same, so you may as well say the same thing," said Sirius complacently. "Now, about you and Lily…"

"She won't listen to me," confessed James. "She totally hates me."

"She's always hated you, Jamie-boy," hissed Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"She's _disliked _me, not _hated _me," corrected James.

"You even said it was the same thing." Sirius' voice was dripping with sarcasm and boredom.

"Well, I don't blame her," said Sirius, surprising James. "I mean, you totally ignored her today at breakfast when you guys had your little 'conversation' last night. Then you called her a you-know-what, and I would be upset about it, too."

"I apologized," argued James.

"So? You're not acting like you're sorry, James."

"You sound like you're on her side," said James grumpily.

"That's because I _am _on her side, Jamie." Sirius' voice was very serious now and very unlike his usual playful tone. 

Across the other side of the room, Lily and Arabella were having their own note-passing conversation (Lily had pointedly refused to talk in whispers).

__

You can't stay mad at James forever, Lily.

Oh yes I can, Bells. I can stay mad at him until the end of the world.

But Lily, if you stay mad at him forever, what about Harry? He'll never be born! And it's his destiny to live in this world.

::sigh:: Yeah, you're right, Bella, but…I just can't forgive him now. Do you know what that idiot called me?

What?

Five words, begins with a 'b'.

He didn't!  


He did.

Why, that little…

Sh! Bella, quiet!

Why? This is written on paper_, Lily, not said out loud. ::rolls eyes::_

Yeah, you're right. Hey, Wickham is looking our way. Let's ditch this paper.

That would be a very good idea.

"I'm dying to know what they've written about," said James eagerly, as the bell rang. He grabbed the piece of parchment that the girls carelessly threw in the wastebasket and read it, dropping it back afterwards.

"What did it say?" asked Sirius curiously, looking from the basket to James' red face.

"Evans told Arabella what I told Lily," said James, shaking with anger. "Why, that little—"

"James, you've been treating Lily horribly," said Remus quietly. "Tomorrow is the first day of the holidays, and I suggest you go apologize to her."

"No **way **will I spoil my first day of the holidays apologizing to her."

"Come on, four-eyes, give in." They turned around to see Arabella glaring at all four of them.

"You hate me now," said James bluntly.

"No." He turned to look at her, surprised. "You just don't get it yet, James Potter. I know you'll give in to Lily someday, and do whatever she wants, but not yet. You need time, James. Time is what's pushing you and Lily farther than you should be." With that said, she left without another word.

"That girl really never ceases to amaze me," commented James, still dazed after Bella left.

"Yeah, isn't she great?" asked Sirius dreamily. "I am so glad she's my girlfriend. We belong together; I know it."

"So does the rest of the school, Sirius."

Sirius whacked James in the head. "Hey, shut it Potter. I have a proper girlfriend, unlike that Melissa Andrews. What were you thinking, dating something like her?"

James shrugged. "I'm planning to dump her tomorrow anyway. Bella is right, Sirius. The only thing that's standing between Lily and me is time. And I'm not going to let it stand there forever."

***

Lily was awake early the next day. Christmas was in one week and she would spend it without her family. Of course, she was slightly unhappy that her parents wouldn't be there, but joyous that Petunia wouldn't. And none of her friends had left for the holidays, which was a good thing, for they could spend it all together.

"I'm glad—and surprised—to see you up early, Bella," she said, grinning, as her half-awake friend stared across the table. Lily looked over to see what she was staring at and saw Melissa Andrews crying by herself at the Hufflepuff table. She rolled her eyes and started to eat, ignoring the blue-eyed blonde crying her eyes out.

"I'll bet you Potter dumped her," she informed Arabella. "He could never keep a girlfriend, ever."

"I actually feel a bit bad for Andrews," said Arabella. She slapped her forehead and grinned stupidly at Lily. "I think I really needed that." 

Lily rolled her eyes just when the rest of her friends and the Marauders entered the Great Hall.

"Oi! Potter!" she called, as he passed her seat. "I suppose even Melissa Andrews isn't good for you, huh? I guess you'll be going through the Slytherins next."

James glared at her and sat down next to Violet. "I didn't know she was that evil. I think Evans could pass for a Slytherin," he said, to no one in particular. 

Violet gasped and glared at him, moving to a different spot. He heard Peter sigh audibly and looked around at everyone.

"Why is everyone so mad at me?" he asked Sirius.

"Because you've been acting like a great prat, James, no offense."

James turned to Sirius and said quietly, "I'm going to apologize to her right now."

He got up and walked to where Lily was sitting. Her three friends looked up and saw him towering over them, and nodded their heads, smiling. James cleared his throat just when he reached Lily, but Lily jumped up and ran out of the Great Hall. He sighed, and followed her, assuming that she went back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked as he approached the portrait, panting.

"Pig snout," he gasped, clutching his chest for breath.

He rushed up to the girls' dormitory where Lily was sitting on her bed, staring at nothing in particular.

"Lily, you have to forgive me," said James, a pleading look in his eyes. "I—I broke up with Melissa. I knew she wasn't the one for me, I just wanted to impress you."

Lily's head shot up and stared into his eyes. "To impress me?" she croaked. "Why?"

"I have no idea," admitted James. "I've been a great prat, I know, and I'm really sorry. Please forgive me."

Lily sighed. "I may as well, since you're giving me no peace at all. I forgive you."

"Thanks." James breathed a sigh of relief. "Friends?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

They walked into the Great Hall together, where their friends were eagerly discussing something in whispers. They grinned when they saw Lily and James standing next to each other.

"Are you guys friends?" asked Violet hopefully.

"Nope," they said in unison. "But we don't hate each other anymore."

"So do you like each other?" asked Sirius, confused.

"Nope."

"Then what are you guys?"

"We _dislike _each other," they said together. Everyone rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Well, I guess some things never change," said Arabella, looking hopeless.

"That's a good thing," replied Remus, grinning.

The six friends smiled at Lily and James chatting and arguing together, knowing that the two would give in…someday, if not now. And they would be in for a love story greater than life itself.

****

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all the characters that I didn't make up, etc. Yeah, I'm getting tired of writing this every single time, but that's just life, I suppose.

Yay! _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _arrives on June 21st! I'm counting the days until it's near…are you?

I know, this chapter was extremely odd, but what do you expect from me? I'm starting to hate the Silk Road project that we're doing in school now. I have two visuals to do and I have to make Tibetan clothing for myself, because my stupid group isn't cooperating. What's new in my life? *sigh*

Thank you to all my reviewers! ::bows:: But I would like some new reviews! I've only had thirty for the last three or four months. I want more! Come on, people, make my mood good! LOL!

Please read all my favorite stories! You won't be sorry *grin*


	10. Third Year: Part Two

Year Three – Part Two

"God save us from these idiots," mumbled Lily, tipping an armful of books onto a table. James was teasing her particularly that day and she couldn't stand any more of it any longer.

"I'm breaking it up with Sirius if he ever does something like that again," growled Arabella, as she followed suit and dumped her books onto a chair.

"Come on, guys, you know they were just joking," said Jennifer optimistically, trying to lighten up the dark mood. "I mean, most of the time they're really sweet, caring, and funny, and you know…"

"Yeah, Jen, that's the perfect description—of Remus," said Arabella, scowling.

"Oh." Jennifer blushed. "Sorry."

Just then, the four Marauders burst through the portrait hole, Sirius and James in the lead. Remus and Peter were walking calmly behind, smiling slightly at their friends' worried faces.

"Bella," gasped Sirius. "I am so sorry about—the prank—and I want to—apologize." Then he fainted to the floor.

"SIRIUS!" exclaimed Arabella in alarm. She rushed to her boyfriend's side and started to mutter a spell with her wand under her breath. A jet of water squirted out from her wand and onto Sirius' face.

"Blah!" he spluttered. Arabella giggled.

"I accept your apology, Sirius," she said, grinning. "Oh, and try to calm down next time; it's not like I was going to eat you up or something."

"You were actually going to break up with him," informed Lily.

"You _were_?" asked Sirius worriedly.

"Er—" Arabella shifted uncomfortably. "I was thinking of…but I'm not now, of course!" she added hastily, seeing Sirius' face.

"Good." Sirius grinned and led Arabella to a nearby couch. Lily groaned.

"Here comes their snog session," she said, making a face.

"What a great source of entertainment," said Jennifer sarcastically. Violet was silent the whole time.

"I feel so alone," said James, sighing. "Come on, Lily."

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"I want to show you something."

"Fine." Lily followed him, grumbling about idiots and snogging.

As soon as they reached the boys' dormitory, James rushed to where his four-poster bed was and took out a clear ball. It was about half the size of the crystal balls in Professor Trelawney's room, and it was glittering purple at the moment.

"Wow," Lily breathed. "James—it's beautiful."

"Isn't it, Evans?" James smiled. "It's sort of like the Mirror of Erised, because it shows your heart's desire. It also shows if the person you love is nearby. If they are nearby, like maybe in this room, then it flashes pink. If the person isn't nearby, like maybe downstairs in the common room, it flashes red."

Lily reached up and touched the ball. It showed herself holding a baby—Harry! And James was also standing behind her, along with the Marauders and her own friends. They were all smiling, and waving at her. Then the ball flashed pink and Lily's cheeks reddened. James peered over her shoulder to see why she was blushing and saw the pink ball. He also immediately flushed bright scarlet, but was secretly grinning that Lily didn't totally hate him.

"What did you see when you touched it?" asked Lily quietly, handing him back the ball.

James' face immediately turned redder. "Er—it turned the same thing as yours did," he admitted, wishing he could just curl up and freeze.

"Really?" Lily's face looked surprised and relieved.

"Yeah." There was an awkward pause, until Sirius and Arabella burst into the dorm. They exchanged evil grins at each other when they saw Lily and James, but looked curiously at the ball in his hands.

Sirius' grin, if at all possible, widened. "So—Jamie. I see you decided to show Lils your ball thing. I heard that yours turned _bright _pink when you touched it…"

"Sirius!" exclaimed James in alarm, glancing at Lily.

"What is it?" asked Arabella curiously.

Sirius whispered something in her ear and her grin turned identical to his. "How cute," she mocked. "Lilums and Jamsie are in _l-ove._"

"Bella," they both muttered.

"Well, why don't you two go get a room, then?" asked Sirius, winking. "Then Snape will be really sad once Harry is born right here at—"

"SIRIUS BLACK!" shrieked Lily. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

Sirius was startled. "Professor McGonagall?" he said, looking around the dormitory. Lily, James, and Arabella burst out laughing.

"Wow, Siri-boy, I didn't know you'd be **this **thick ever in your life!" James was howling with laughter.

Lily smiled, and brushed back a stray lock of her red hair, revealing her bright green eyes. James was laughing and suddenly caught her eye, and gasped. She had the most beautiful eyes in the world. They were like deep pools of shimmering green, dazzling, brilliant, and startling. James thought he could see the whole world in those eyes, since they were so deep. Now he knew why Snape "loved" Lily so much…Wait a minute! What was he saying? He shook his head, determining the fact that he had certainly gone mad at that point.

Lily, however, was having similar thoughts. She never knew, or noticed, rather, that James was extremely handsome. He had untidy black hair and deep brown eyes that were full of mischief and kindness. She shook her head at the reverie. Surely, perhaps James Potter _is _caring and handsome, but he certainly didn't act like it to her. No, Potter was definitely still a bloody git—that was for sure.

"Lily and James Potter," whispered Sirius to Arabella, as Lily and James continued pondering in their own little worlds, "it has a nice ring to it."

Arabella smirked. "That it does, Sirius. I wonder when the two dodos will finally realize that it was love at first sight when they first laid eyes on each other."

Sirius sat up abruptly. "You know, Bella," he said, grinning wickedly. "We never _did _know what happened when Lily and James met. I met them on the Hogwarts Express and you met them on the train. We never knew what happened at King's Cross though, before they went through Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters."

"By golly, you're right, Siri," said Bella, her eyes widening. "D'you think James was being a prat and called Lily 'carrots', or something?"

"Yeah, probably."

"What are you guys talking about?"

They both turned around to see Lily and James staring at them like they had a pimple on their face or something. Come to think of it, did they have a pimple? Both pre-teens hoped that they didn't.

"Well?" Lily was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Well what?" asked Arabella innocently. 

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't play innocent with me, girl. I know what you guys were talking about—me and Potter."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Shut UP already," said James impatiently. 

"It's not like you ever do anything different with Sirius," snapped Bella.

"Well…we plan pranks on the Slytherins and Evans," said James smoothly. "Along with Remus and Peter, of course. But Sirius and I are the real masterminds behind it all. I mean, Remus is a part of us too, but Peter…For some reason, I don't feel as if he really belongs with us three."

"Peter's a prat," said Arabella viciously. "He's nothing but a coward."

"Bella!" All three were shocked. "How could you say that? Peter's in Gryffindor!"

She snorted. "Well, I certainly don't know what was wrong with the Sorting Hat when it sorted him into this House. He doesn't belong at all. Shows no sign of courage, friendship…anything. Peter also seems kind of suspicious, too. I have a bad feeling about him."

"Don't let Vi hear you," warned Lily.

Arabella smirked. "Don't worry, I won't, Lils. I just can't put a finger on it though—what's wrong with Peter? I mean, I feel like he's definitely not an auspicious sign to our lives, but…"

"Arabella Figg, how can you say such things?" asked Sirius angrily. "Peter is our _friend_, you have no business to say things like that about him."

"Well! I just can't help it, it's not like you have to agree with me," Bella shot back. She was getting furious as well.

"Oh great," muttered James, "here we go again. This time Bella isn't going to go for Diggory, though."

"She's wouldn't dump Sirius _again_, would she?" whispered Lily.

"Probably."

"Thanks a lot, Potter, you make me feel so much better."

"Oh, you're welcome."

Lily growled, and Arabella and Sirius still continued to argue. Unfortunately, James had been right about what he had said.

***

"Bella," said Lily sadly, looking at her best friend pitifully, "please make it up to Sirius. It was only a stupid argument after all. You guys really lo—like each other. You remember last time…you guys broke up because of a stupid, senseless argument about me."

"Well, why should he be so sensitive?" snapped Arabella, thrusting open a set of drawers and began taking out make-up. "If he's not making up to me, I'm not making up to him." She began applying on mascara and lip-gloss.

Lily couldn't stand it any longer. She rushed out of the dormitory, in search of Jennifer and Violet, who were plotting ways to get Arabella and Sirius back together.

"Jen…Vi…" she gasped, as she reached the common room. "Bella's putting on _make-up. _Can you believe that? She told me she'd never put on make-up, unless if it was a special occasion, and here she's putting on mascara!"

"She said she'd never put on that stuff; it'll make her look like a freak!" cried Violet.

"Guys, I don't think we should put them back together," said Jennifer quietly.

"WHAT?" cried Violet and Lily. "WHY?"

"Because this time it's more extreme than last time. Bella's going nuts and Sirius can't sleep at all. We can't interfere with that kind of hatred and misery. They need to get back themselves. If we try helping, and it backfires just like last time, they'll hate each other for the rest of their lives!"

Lily sighed. "You're right, Jen. But we should at least try getting them near each other to apologize."

Jennifer grinned. "Ah, Lily, that's where the fun part begins."

"Fun part?" They turned around to see Remus and James standing behind them. Remus was looking suspiciously at Jennifer.

"What are you guys planning?"

"We're trying to find ways to get Sirius and Arabella near each other, so they can apologize."

"Why not just get them together?" asked James.

The three girls looked at each other. "We think that it's better for them to get together by themselves this time."

Remus looked relieved, but James stared at them, shaking his head.

"Nah, they're both too damn stubborn to get themselves together," he said.

"How would you know?" demanded Lily.

"Because Sirius is my best friend," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Really, Evans, you can be so thick at times…"

"Well, Bella's my best friend," Lily interrupted.

"And that would help because—?"  


"Last time you tried helping, everything backfired."

James looked insulted. "It did not. They still got together again, didn't they?"

"Yeah…"

"So, that means _I_'m a genius."

Lily snorted, and Jennifer giggled, snuggling close to Remus. She glared at the couple, then back at James again, who was making kissing-faces at her.

"Stop it," she said quietly.

"Make me." He pouted.

Lily leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Or else I'll find out whom you'd like as a girlfriend."

James reddened. "I fell for that when we were in our first year, but I'm not falling for it again. Nice try, Evans, maybe I'll believe you, say…maybe when we're all dead and gone?"

"This time, Potter, I'm not joking."

"And I would believe you, because—?"

"Because I always read advanced books for each topic, so naturally, I know how to whip up a Truth Potion. Not exactly strong like a Veritaserum, but it'll at least tell me who you have a crush on."

James was taken aback. "Fine, I'll listen to everything you tell me to do to get Arabella and Sirius back together again."

"Good." Lily rubbed her hands together, grinning evilly. "Now, let's get to work, shall we?"

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them, ashen-faced, were smiling with triumph. 

"You know, Evans, this might actually work," mumbled James, too embarrassed to actually congratulate Lily openly in front of Jennifer and Remus…especially Jennifer.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Lily, grinning at him. "Now then—everyone ready?"

"Ready," they all chorused.

The foursome all reached the Great Hall for lunch, still waiting in anticipation for the sign Lily was going to give them. They saw Arabella coming from another corridor, arm-in-arm with a blond boy with blue eyes. They all recognized him as one of the biggest players in Hogwarts—Jason Mackenzie, from Ravenclaw. Lily gritted her teeth and dragged the other three, who were still gaping at the couple, to the Gryffindor table.

"I can't believe Bella would go for that Mackenzie," said Jennifer, still shocked. "I mean, she knows he's the biggest player in this whole entire school and tries to make improper advances to every girl that falls for him."

"Bella's not stupid, she's just doing it to make Sirius jealous so he could save her from Jason's clutches," said Lily smoothly. "Now, are you all ready, or what? James, did you hear me?" She poked at James with her wand, and he came back to earth, obviously lost in thought.

"Thinking of Lily here?" asked Jennifer teasingly. James immediately blushed and turned to listen to Lily's little pep talk.

"Have you heard a word I said?" she demanded of him, seeing that he was poking at his food and not eating it.

"Huh?" he said bluntly.

Lily slapped her forehead. "Never mind. Are you ready for our plan?"

"What plan?"

"The _plan _to get Bella and Sirius together."

"Oh, _that _plan. Yeah, I'm ready."

Lily sighed. "That took a while."

"Potter's always been thick, you know, Lils," said Jennifer, trying to calm down her friend.

"He's not!" insisted Remus.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Come on, Remie, I was only saying it for Lily's sake. Besides, we wouldn't want the same to happen to us like it did to Bella and Sirius, do we?"

Remus shrugged. "Oh, I suppose not."

"Sh, hurry up already, here they come!" whispered Lily excitedly.

Arabella came to the Gryffindor table nearly clinging to Jason, kissing his neck. Lily and Jennifer nearly threw up right here, while James and Remus' faces were both very red. Over near the Hufflepuff table, Sirius was staring angrily at Arabella but immediately started to kiss Alanna Macmillan passionately.

"Hey Lils!" exclaimed Arabella enthusiastically, as she and Jason came up to them and sat down. 

"Hello Bella," said Lily rather coldly. She stiffened as James put his arm around her shoulders, and glared at him.

"Hey, I'm only trying to fit in here," he whispered pointedly, nodding his head towards Remus and Jennifer, who were cuddling up together.

"Lily," said Jason in his low, deep voice, "so nice to see you again. How are you?"

"I'm fine," replied Lily, through gritted teeth, "just dandy."

"Are you two going out?" He looked at James' arm swung over her shoulders casually, as if it happened every day.

"In a way, I suppose," she said stiffly.

Arabella's face lit up. "Really?" she squealed.

Lily glared at her best friend, giving her the "that's-just-Potter's-way" look. Arabella nodded, looking a little put off that Lily and James weren't "going out". Remus snorted with laughter and Jennifer slapped her hand over his mouth to keep him from giving away their plan.

James sighed. It wasn't going well at all, and he could tell from everyone's faces that they probably forgot about their little plan. Lily and Jennifer's faces were frustrated, and Remus was still trying to refrain himself from laughing. Violet and Peter were sitting across from them, looking at them in a puzzled manner.

"What are you guys doing?" she hissed, looking at the foursome strangely. "What is going _on _here?"

"We're trying to get Arabella and Sirius together again," said James, exasperated. "It's not going well, though, as you can tell. God, why won't those two just get together! We always have to get them together, don't we?" 

Violet laughed. "Oh, but that'll just take the fun out of life, if everything went the way you wanted it to be and everyone was happy."

"I suppose." James shrugged. Suddenly, he felt someone poke him on the shoulder and he screamed, "Ouch! That hurt!" 

The whole Great Hall became silent. Some people sniggered at James, while others just ignored him and continued to eat quietly. Over at the Slytherin table, Snape was coughing loudly along with his gang, and they were all sniggering and sneering at the Gryffindors.

"Potter, did you have to startle the whole Hall?" asked Lily, rolling her eyes. "Gee, it was only a poke."

"Well…it hurt!" cried James.

"Cry-baby."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"I thought you guys were going out," said Jason, confused, as he watched the two argue loudly.

"SHUT UP!" they both cried, and continued arguing.

"Hey, don't say 'shut up' to my boyfriend!" exclaimed Arabella, standing up. "It's immortal!"

"Immo_ral_, Bella, I've told you a million times," said Lily, slapping her forehead in response. "Besides, why have _him _for a boyfriend when you can have Sirius?"

"Sirius? Sirius **Black**?" Jason glared at Bella. "Why didn't you tell me your boyfriend was Black?"

"He isn't anymore," said Arabella timidly. Jason looked as if he were going to explode.

"Who CARES if he isn't anymore, you shared saliva with him, didn't you?" he roared furiously. James coughed, trying to hide a snigger at the "sharing saliva" part.

"You—" Lily shook her fist at Jason. "You leave my best friend alone, you big, egotistical, ba—"

"Whatever." Jason rolled his eyes and shoved Arabella roughly, while glaring at Sirius, who was still kissing Alanna at the Hufflepuff table. Arabella stuck her nose in the air indignantly, and sat down between Lily and James.

"Ugh! He makes me so _mad_, that jerk! Insulting Sirius…Who does he think he is? Why I ought to—"

"So you do care about Sirius," said Lily slyly, poking her friend. "Thought you 'hated' him."

"We made up," said Arabella, shrugging.

"So you're back together again?"

"Of course not!" cried Bella, scandalized at the thought. "We're only friends now, that's all. No girlfriend-boyfriend relationship anymore."

"WHAT?" James stood up abruptly, and glared at Arabella, then at Sirius who had stopped kissing Alanna at the Hufflepuff table. "You two broke up because of this stupid, damned argument? How _could _you do such a thing? You guys were such a good pair!"

"At least we're friends, James, unlike you and Lily," said Arabella tentatively, surprised and frightened at James' outburst.

"SO?"

"So…being friends is better than enemies isn't it?"

James sat down again, his face red, and replied calmly, "Arabella Figg, I'd rather you and Sirius be enemies than just stay friends."

***

Things went terribly all through Halloween. It was the first day of December, and snow was cheerfully falling from the sky. The world seemed fresh and wintry, though the eight third years weren't exactly happy as they traipsed wearily to Divination.

Lily and James weren't speaking, as usual, and James wasn't speaking to his best friend or Arabella. Lily was friendly towards everyone, except to James (for obvious reasons) and the Slytherins and whom she calls "Potter's fan club". She was civil towards Arabella and Sirius, but, like James, she wasn't pleased that they were "just friends". Violet and Peter were nice and cheerful to everyone, because that was just their way of things, and Remus and Jennifer were pretty decent to everyone as well.

"Tsk, tsk, Lily, why must you hang around with Potter so?" asked Snape, as he breathed down her neck again in Potions.

"First of all, Snape," said Lily calmly, gripping her wand, "I do not hang around with Potter. _He _hangs around with _me _because we have no life and because there's nothing better to do. Second of all, why do you, of all the people care about who hangs around with me or not? Certainly you don't _like _me, do you?" 

Snape was silent, and Lily had to resist the urge to laugh. Nearly the whole school knew that Snape "loved" her, and that he would do anything to get her attention and kiss her. The Gryffindors thought it outrageous, the Ravenclaws could have cared less, the Hufflepuffs were giggly about it and found it funny, and the Slytherins were furious. There hadn't been a single Gryffindor-Slytherin romance since Violet's parents. Of course, they were a different situation, but they were a Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Sirius and Arabella remained "friends", as they put it delicately, though one may think that they were just on speaking terms. They would pass each other with cold civility, while Lily and James watched angrily in the background. Lily was furious because her best friend had gotten such a sweet, loyal, and caring boy, and now she dumped him for some pathetic argument they had. James, on the other hand, couldn't even express his livid feelings towards the whole situation. He shot daggers at Sirius snogging with some girl every day, and bit his lip whenever Arabella walked by, laughing and joking with some boy. He even wondered viciously if they were desperate enough to hide their hurt feelings by dating Slytherins. Nah, those two idiots had their prides at times.

Remus and Jennifer remained very close for the time being. Jennifer didn't really pester Remus anymore about the secret they were planning to help keep Remus in check as a werewolf, much to the relief of Remus. They tried to calm down both sides of Lily and James, and to comfort Sirius and Arabella; both pairs had turned them down with a stuck-up nose and a snort.

Violet and Peter were both oblivious to the whole situation and didn't really participate in anything. They still had shallow affections for each other, but they really didn't go deep enough to start a relationship. Violet remained sweet and good-natured as always, and Peter remained quiet, stupid, and sullen. No one really cared about **him**, as far as he was concerned.

Today, however, things were going to be different—very different.

James was walking with his current "best friend", Remus, while he considered Sirius as "an acquaintance". Lily was walking with _her_ "best friend", Jennifer, and both pairs were heading off towards Gryffindor Tower after lunch.

Since that day was Saturday, no one had anything better to do than just lying around and doing basically nothing. James was so put-off for some reason that he didn't feel that even Quidditch could take his mind off his misery. Remus was doing his best to joke around and comfort James, but nothing was working. So he finally cornered Lily and Jennifer just as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Lily," he panted. "I need—to talk—to you."

"Why?" asked Jennifer suspiciously. She was quite protective of her boyfriend. Remus rolled her eyes.

"I'm not about to dump you and ask Lily out, you prat," he chided. "I only need a favor from her."

"So she can help you can ask someone else out?" 

Remus closed his eyes and slapped himself. "_No!_ I told you, I have to ask her a favor."

"Does it have to be in private?" said Jennifer stiffly.

"Er—kind of."

"Fine." She marched off, said the password to the Fat Lady ("Pig snout"), and entered Gryffindor Tower.

"So…what did you want to talk about?" asked Lily curiously, after Jennifer had stalked away.

"James is moping around," said Remus, sighing heavily. "Even Quidditch won't take his mind off his depression."

"What the hell is he depressed about? He has a perfect life!" Lily snorted.

"Look, he's just as upset about Sirius and Arabella just being friends as you are. So…can you just please help me?" Remus made his best puppy dog face. "Please?"

"Oh, fine." Lily sighed. "But what do you want me to do? We hate each other, for God's sake!"

"Er—I know! Play a prank on him." Remus grinned devilishly, and Lily slowly gave a grin that matched his. 

"Deal. I know one that will re-ally cheer 'im up."

Half an hour later, Gryffindors in the common room could hear screams echoing in the third year boys' dormitory. James ran down the staircase to the common room, livid with anger.

"EVANS! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?"

James' usual untidy black hair had turned completely orange and pink, and even messier than before. They clashed horribly with his outfit, which consisted of a clown's costume, shoes, and even a large, red nose on top of his own one. Sirius and Arabella, who were currently snogging with their current girlfriend and boyfriend, respectively, shrieked with laughter when they saw him. Remus and Jennifer had to clutch their stomachs from laughing so hard, and even Violet and Peter were laughing (mildly, of course). James had never been so embarrassed in his life and wanted to kill Lily at the very moment.

"EVANS! WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU AND I'LL—"

"Aww…Potter, I was only doing what Remus told me to do," said Lily innocently. "He was the one who wanted me to make you more cheerful and stop moping around by pulling a prank on you."

"REMUS, YOU DID WHAT?"

"Come on, James, you were depressed because there was no Sirius." Remus' voice was as serious as ever, and he was frowning deeply. "Sirius was the one who always kept you sane, and who always comforted you and entertained you when you were bored or depressed. Now you consider me to be your best friend, but I know I can never do it the way Sirius can. You two make up now, or I will not be very pleased." 

James bit his lip; he knew that getting Remus mad was not very smart. He stepped in front of Sirius and said, "Friends?"

Sirius stared at him, and then grinned. "Friends."

And so they reformed their long friendship over again.

-

"My dear," said Trelawney mistily, as she gazed with her overlarge spectacles at the foggy crystal ball, "you do have a very misfortunate future, yes, very misfortunate indeed…" Her eyes swelled with tears.

"You will be dying, my dear girl," she said to Lily. Lily rolled her eyes.

__

As if I needed her _to tell me that,_ she mused. _Honestly – even Dumbledore hates the woman, though he obviously wouldn't say such._

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were writing something on a piece of parchment and talking quietly to each other. Suddenly, Sirius let out a snort of laughter, causing the whole class to look their way.

"My dears, is there a problem?" asked Professor Trelawney, peering at them with her bat-like eyes and glided towards their table. "What do you see when you gaze into the orb."

"A load of foggy stuff, Professor," said James earnestly, and Sirius, Remus, and Peter fell over their poufs, laughing.

Professor Trelawney stiffened. "You four don't have the aura of a stargazer. It is not everyone that possesses the Inner Eye." Her voice sounded oddly like Professor McGonagall's just then.

Jennifer stifled a giggle, and Professor Trelawney looked her way. "Ah…yes, Ms. Dean. What do _you _see in your orb?"

"Erm—" She peered into the crystal ball. "Nothin'." Lily coughed.

Professor Trelawney clearly was not having a wonderful day, for she bit her lip and shook her head. Then she went towards the other side of the room to where the Ravenclaws were sitting, and seemed more pleased at their progress with the crystal ball.

"What sort of rubbish is she talking about anyway?" hissed Lily. "No one needs a stupid aura and an Inner Eye to see the future. All you do is mope around until the first prediction you think of is going to happen in the near future." All of the girls at their table giggled uncontrollably just then.

Meanwhile, at the Marauders' table, the boys were curious to what the girls were discussing.

"Isn't Bella dreamy, Siri-boy?" asked James slyly. "Perhaps you should go—talk to her?"

"No." Sirius' voice was as cold and empty as the fog in the orb.

"Well, I know for a fact that she's still pining for you." James thought that just then he had saw Sirius incline his head towards his way with interest, but it could have been his imagination, too.

"Lupin…I see sad things in your future, sad things," came Professor Trelawney's misty voice. "You will reject the only girl you love to keep her safe from what you are…Then you will find happiness, finding a job when you will be rejected all your adult life." 

Remus was startled, and looked over at Jennifer, who blushed furiously at her comment. Was she making a real prediction? Because it did seem awfully real to him—

"Hello? Remus?" Sirius was waving his hand around in front of Remus' face. "Class is over, come on. We have to ditch this place as soon as possible; I think I'm suffocating."

Remus snorted and followed everyone out of the stifling, perfumed room, still pondering over Professor Trelawney's prediction.

***

It was Christmas Day, and Lily jumped out of bed and started to shake awake her friends. She giggled when she saw the state they were in. Arabella's curls were all tangled together into one big mess, while Jennifer's neat, blond hair was—er—not so neat. Violet was as clean and organized as ever, but there were red ringlets under her eyes.

"Come on, you lazy people, wake up!" cried Lily, jumping on Arabella's bed. "It's Christmas, we have presents to open; wake up already!"

"Lils, you're way too energetic sometimes," grumbled Arabella, as she attempted to brush out her tangled curls.

"I know, ain't it great?"

The girls all dug through their presents. Lily had received a large Charms book from Arabella, a real live kitten from Jennifer with gray fur and stripes, stunning new dress robes from Violet, and a whole bag of assortments from Hogsmeade from Sirius, Remus, and Peter. She hadn't expected anything from James, though she bought him something herself, but she gasped when she opened the present he got her. It was a medium-sized book made of real, genuine pink leather, and stamped across the cover, it said_, "Lily Evans"_. She opened the delicate cover and inside, James had written: 

Lily—

I hope this journal comes in use. You can write in it as a diary, or whatever you'd like. Look, I know we don't exactly like each other, but I thought I'd get this when we went for our holiday shopping at Hogsmeade. It's an enchanted journal, diary, whatever you want to call it, so it can obey whatever you tell it to do. I hope it comes in handy someday.

—James 

"What's that, Lils?" asked Arabella curiously, as she peered over Lily's shoulder. In a flash, her three friends were gushing over the present like it was a priceless piece of jewelry.

"Who gave you that?"

"Can I hold it, Lils?"

"Aww…James is so sweet, isn't he?"

"That must've cost a lot! James sure does care about you, Lils."

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes. But she fingered the journal lovingly, smiling at the thought of James ever getting her such a beautiful and wonderful gift.

Meanwhile, at the boys' dormitory, there was wrapping paper and boxes littered all over the ground. The boys were all surrounding a very red-faced James, who was holding the present that Lily had given him. It was a large pin with a Gryffindor lion head on it, about the size of his palm. Its eyes were made of real red rubies, the nose was made out of a large emerald, and its mouth was made out of ebony. It was copper and surprisingly light, and James was admiring it, surprised at Lily even giving him even a present.

"Wow," was all he could say.

Sirius grinned. "Lily sure does like you, Jamie-boy, giving you such a present."

James snorted. "Hospitality, maybe, who knows."

As the boys reached the Great Hall for the Christmas feast, the girls were already there. Lily immediately blushed when she saw James entered, and slid back in her seat, hiding behind Jennifer. James also turned a nasty shade of red when he saw Lily…Both their friends noticed, of course.

"When are those prats getting together," whispered Jennifer to Remus, as the boys sat down.

"Forget them, what about Sirius and Arabella? Their pride is just as large as Lily and James'." He sighed. "People these days, they just…" But before he could properly answer, Jennifer kissed him square on the mouth. 

Lily cheered. "Aww…how sweet. So when's the wedding?" Jennifer glared at her.

"Next year."

"Who's going to be the maid-of-honor?" piped up Arabella.

"My sister," replied Jennifer sourly.

"Little Katie?" Arabella was surprised. "Why?"

"Bells, I'm only joking," she said, rolling her eyes. "Remus and I are not getting married; what gave you such a ridiculous notion?"

"It wasn't a notion, look at you guys. You are so in love, it's so obvious, the way you guys look at each other after you kiss and—"

"Way too much information there, Bella, thank you," said Lily loudly. Jennifer smiled gratefully at her friend.

"Well!" Arabella was insulted.

"I wouldn't be talking anyway, Bella," continued Lily, looking at Sirius. Arabella blushed.

"I told you, we're just friends."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious!"

"I thought your ex-boyfriend was Sirius."

Arabella rolled her eyes. "That's got to be the lamest joke now. Will you stop it?"

"Nope!"

-

After the Christmas feast was over, James pulled Lily aside. They were zigzagging across corridors until they reached Gryffindor Tower first, and James pulled Lily towards a darker corner of the room, both trying to avoid any stray mistletoe.

"Lily…thanks for the pin," he said, grinning. "It's really cool."

Lily smiled. "Oh, James, thank _you _for that beautiful journal. It's so lovely! It must've cost you a fortune!"

"Nah." James blushed. "We—er—well, we have plenty of money at home, so I decided to buy you that when I saw it at Dervish and Banges. I take it that you like it, then?"

"I love it!" Lily hugged him and kissed him gently on the lips. Suddenly, she pulled away, blushing furiously.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Lils?" She looked up to see James grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah?"

"Can we do that again?"

They started to kiss again, enjoying the savor of the other's mouth, until they pulled away, breathless. Then Lily got up, extremely confused.

"What just happened there?"

James was equally puzzled. "I have no idea. D'you think we had too much pumpkin juice or something?"

"Yeah, definitely."

When night came, and they got ready for bed, Lily and James both had the same dream again.

__

"Lily, push, push now!" cried a black-haired man as he urged his wife.

"Ugh! James Henry Potter, I hate you!"

"Surely I'm not that bad."

"You are, Potter!"

"So are you…Potter!"

Lily continued to scream until the nurse whispered to her, "Mrs. Potter, here is your new baby boy."

Lily and James carefully moved closer to each other and smiled at the small baby crying. Then the baby opened his eyes carefully, revealing two large green orbs. He already had a small tuft of black hair, which the nurse told them as very unusual, since babies didn't start growing hair until the age of one.

"He has his father's hair and most of his looks," said Lily quietly, holding onto her husband's hand.

"And he has his mother's eyes," whispered James. He held Lily closer to him. "I love you, Lily Potter," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too, James Potter."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Sirius and Remus flew in, their eyes sparkling with mirth.

"So this is the little mini-Marauder?" squealed Sirius. "Oh, Uncle Sirius will teach you everything you know, little fellow!"

Just then, the door opened again, this time revealing three women, who looked as equally as excited as Sirius and Remus did.

"Oh, Lily, he's absolutely adorable!" gushed an older-version of Arabella. She quickly kissed Sirius on the cheek, smiling. "And I'm his godmother, too."

"Hey, don't forget me, I'm his godfather!" cried Sirius, pretending to be hurt.

"Aww…poor baby, do you want me to kiss you to make you all better?" mocked Arabella.

"Guys, not in here, the baby will get ideas when he's older," joked Remus. But he quickly took that back when Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed it softly.

"I love you, Remus Lupin," she hissed in his ear. Remus smiled and turned his head, so that their lips met.

"I love you, too, Jennifer Dean soon-to-be-Lupin." Jennifer chuckled softly.

"All right, off with the mushy stuff, I can't stand it!" exclaimed Sirius, waving his arms around like a maniac.

"Gee, don't fuss, Sirius."

Lily quieted all of them. "Look…he's sleeping."

"Aww…aren't you the cutest widdle, widdle baby!" cooed Arabella, tickling his stomach gently. She received a gurgle and a giggle in response.

"Look, he likes me!" she cried. "Oh, my little godson wuvs his godmother, yes he does!"

The rest of the adults laughed. "Oh, Bella, you never do change, do you?" asked Jennifer, shaking with laughter.

"Like I always say, Jen, some things never change," said the older version of Violet, grinning.

"What are you going to name him?" asked Remus curiously. "You guys never told us. You said you'd tell us as a surprise."

"Yeah, tell us!" chanted Arabella.

Lily and James smiled at each other, sharing that secret smile only reserved for them.

"We're naming him Harry," said Lily, beaming.

"Harry James Potter," added James. "Middle name after mine, and first name after my father." He choked.

Sirius patted his best friend's shoulder. "It's all right, mate, you're father would be proud right now. After all, he did die serving under a good name. Don't think about it, James. After all, you have a new member of the family to celebrate about!"

Lily smiled. "Sirius is right, James…for once."

"Hey, I resent that!"

They all laughed, and all loving the little baby boy that would someday become a huge part of each other their lives.

For once, Lily and James didn't wake up from their dreams as before. They both smiled peacefully in their own respected dormitories, and slept the most peaceful that they've ever slept before. All because of the little boy named Harry that would become a huge part of their lives later on in life.

- - - - 

****

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; you should know who does by now. 

This chapter was extremely weird, I know, you don't have to tell me so. But hey, you should be thankful that I updated soon! Some people update a month later! LOL!


	11. Third Year: Part Three

Year Three – Part Three

A soft, light breeze played with Lily's hair, as she pushed a falling lock of red hair off her forehead. It was a few weeks until June arrived, and she knew that exams were just in last than a month already. The sun was shining brightly, and not a cloud was in the sky. Lily should have been enjoying all this, but she had other things to worry about, besides the exams. Arabella and Sirius were still "just friends", and she was extremely exasperated at their stubbornness. She was also concerned with what the Marauders were planning. Every day, she would see them actually talking seriously in front of the armchairs by the fire, glancing now and then to see if anyone was listening. What were they up to? And what did they mean by "very dangerous"?

"Lily!" She turned around, seeing James running towards her, grinning. Lily sighed. What did he want now?

"Yes?" she replied coldly. He ignored her cold civility and continued excitedly.

"W-would you like to g-go with me to H-Hogsmeade?" he managed to stumble out. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"And I would believe that this isn't a joke because—?"

James sighed. "Can you just say 'yes'?"

"No. Er—I'll think about it, all right?"

"All right." James' voice sounded extremely put-off and disappointed, but Lily waved it aside. He was probably disappointed that a girl turned him down, or at least almost turned him down.

Lily reached the castle again, swinging her bag over her shoulders. She groaned, as she looked up at the ceiling. Potions…her next class.

Professor Hurst looked extremely agitated over something when she reached the dungeons. She sat next to Arabella, who gave her a look that asked, "Where the hell were you?" Lily shook her head, nodding towards Hurst, who was muttering to himself.

As Hurst droned on and on about Jumping Potions, Lily found herself falling asleep. Though the dungeons were very cool even in the summer, she found that it was hotter than usual, and that she wasn't the only one who was bothered with it. Many students were asleep with their heads on their desks, and even Hurst was half-asleep, drool coming out of his mouth as he spoke. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing James grinning stupidly.

"Potter!" shrieked Hurst. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Er—I came in late?" offered James hopefully. Everyone laughed.

"No, wrong answer, Potter. Go take your seat." Then he continued with his droning.

"Bud, where were you?" asked Sirius curiously, as James sat down next to him.

"I was asking Lily to go with me to Hogsmeade," he said carelessly, taking out his Potions materials.

"And what did she say?" he asked eagerly.

"Er—she'd think about it."

Sirius cackled silently, annoying James even more.

"Shut it, will you?" he hissed.

"Oh, this is the first time James Potter has been turned down by a girl…namely, Lily Evans!" bellowed Sirius, so the whole class could hear. Everyone was stunned for a minute, as Professor Hurst glared at the pair of them. 

"Black, Potter! What is the meaning of this?"

"Sirius started it, sir," said James, his eyes widening innocently. "You heard him talk out loud, didn't you?"

Hurst raised his eyebrows and sneered. "Potter, whenever Black does something, you're usually connected to it, too."

"Why would you say that, sir?"

"Because, Potter, every single person in this school that you two are like peanut butter and jelly, which makes the work a lot harder for us teachers. Now, detention for both of you and twenty points from Gryffindor! Well, what are the rest of you waiting for?" He looked around at the silent Gryffindors and Slytherins. "Get back to work!"

"Yes, Professor," the class replied meekly, and went back to taking notes.

Half an hour later, James was twirling his quill around, and Sirius was asleep. Lily was feeling tired herself and looked around the classroom, until her eyes rested on the two sleepy (and sleeping) boys, and smirked. 

Potter, Potter, when will you learn, she thought amusedly. Her own green eyes locked with his brown ones as he sat up, and Lily looked away, blushing.

"Evans." Lily's head shot up.

"Yes, Professor?"

"If you're quite finished staring at Potter, you can answer my question." Professor Hurst's voice was extremely dry. Lily blushed and muttered an apology.

Sirius snorted out loud. "Lils…he asked what was the difference between the Aging Potion and the Old—"

"Perhaps _you _know the answer, Black, since you must sneer at Evans so?" snapped Professor Hurst.

"The difference between the Aging Potion and the Olden Potion is that though they both make you older, the Olden Potion has many more complex ingredients such as the—"

"I did not ask you to show off, Mr. Black, I asked you to answer my question."

"I did!" cried Sirius indignantly.

"Mr. Snape? Perhaps you would care to answer this question that Black was unable to." Sirius started to protest again, but James kicked him under the table.

"The difference is that the Olden Potion's ingredients are more complex and very different from the Aging Potion," replied Snape smugly.

"That's what I said!" exclaimed Sirius. "I said more stuff though; that slimy git just took my words and said them and—"

"Mr. Black, that is quite enough!" bellowed Hurst. The entire class became silent, and the rest of Potions was a quiet affair. 

"I can't believe that Hurst!" shouted Sirius, as the bell rang. "He—he deliberately told me that I was bragging, but I wasn't, and then Snape took the words right out of my mouth and started to say what I said, but summarized it." 

"Gee, Sirius, you don't have to be so touchy about it," consoled Jennifer. "Hurst is always like that to everyone, except the Slytherins."

"But—still—"

"Sirius, shut up, will you?" sighed James impatiently. Then he turned to Lily and asked pleadingly, "So…are you up for the Hogsmeade trip this weekend?"

Everyone stared at Lily, who blushed. Finally, she said, "Oh, fine, I'll go. But this better not be a joke or a prank of yours." She glared at him.

James sighed in relief. "Don't worry, it's not."

- 

"Come on, Lils, let's go to Zonko's!" cried James, dragging Lily behind him. "C'mon, it'll be fun an'…"

"Really, James, I would expect your grammar to be better," replied Lily stiffly, as she stumbled over a rock. "James!" she screeched.

"Whoops, sorry," said James, bending down and helping Lily up. 

"So…where's Bella and Sirius?" she asked curiously, as James finally settled down.

"Er—I don't know," said James uncomfortably. Lily rolled her eyes. She wasn't an idiot to guess that James knew where they were.

"Sure you don't, Potter. I've known you for three years already."

James sighed. "Oh, fine then. Arabella is off with Kevin Patil and Sirius is out with—er—oh, hell, what was that girl's name again? The girl he started snogging with at the Great Hall and has been dating ever since…what _is _her name?"

Lily rolled her eyes again. "You mean you don't even know your best friend's current 'girlfriend'?"

James ignored her and was still racking his brain for the girl's name. "I got it!" he finally exclaimed. "It was—Alanna Macmillan! That was her name!"

"Lily?" They both turned around to see a good-looking Ravenclaw boy in their year, Lance Sharpe.

"Yes?" she asked, rather testily. Lily was rather careful around boys she didn't know too well.

"Would you care for a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?"

"I'm sorry, Lance, but I'm already going with James," said Lily sweetly.

He nodded, looking confused. "I thought you hated him, though."

Lily shrugged. "Things change. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's all right, really."

When he left, James burst into peals of laughter. "Oh…things change? Nice one, Evans!"

"Hey, it was the best I could do!" cried Lily, offended.

"Oh, Jamsie!" They both turned around to see Sirius walking towards them, his arm around the waist of a different girl.

"Sirius…who is this?" asked James politely, trying not to scream at his best friend.

"Oh, this is Jeannie Paterson," said Sirius brightly, grinning. "She's a Ravenclaw, and in the same year as us."

"Oh," replied James, disinterested. Then he leaned closer and hissed, "What happened to that Macmillan girl?"

"My God, she was so bad at snogging!" whispered Sirius. "You should have seen her; she was drooling all over my mouth!"

James snorted and entered Zonko's with a protesting Lily behind him.

"I can't believe that Sirius is a player!" she cried. "When he was together with Bells, he was so sweet and caring to everyone, and didn't have these sick-minded thoughts. And now that he's dumped Bella and only 'friends' with her, he's just like Jason Mackenzie and Amos Diggory." She sighed hopelessly and began fingering the Dungbombs in the display case listlessly.

"Don't feel that way," said James softly. "Sirius is my best friend—but I have to admit it, you're right. He's not the same without Arabella. But I guess we can't play matchmaker on them, unless if we want them both killed."

"And," continued Lily, ignoring James, "Bella is dating that Patil kid. What happened between him and Deanna?"

"Let me guess: they slept together, Deanna got pregnant, and now Kevin left her to take care of the baby. Yep, I think that's it."

"Is it true?" asked Lily, horrified.

"Well, it could be," replied James, shrugging.

Just then, a group of giggling girls passed them, sniggering and pointing at James. Then one of them fluttered their eyelashes at him, and they all walked out of the store, still grinning and hyperventilating to have met the famous James Potter from school. James turned a bright shade of red while Lily smiled at him.

"So this is what your life is, huh? Girls chasing and madly in love with you wherever you go."

"You have no idea, Evans."

"Actually, I do have a pretty good idea. Every day I have idiotic boys chasing and following me around the corridors. I, of course, ignore them, unlike you, who loves every attention you get from—"

"That's not true!" demanded James.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Hot-shot, but you do look like you enjoy all of the attention." Lily scowled fiercely. "Now since you've dragged me here, aren't you going to buy anything?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." James searched around the store for fifteen minutes, coming back with two bags full of jokes and pranks. "Let's go."

They came out, Lily also carrying one of James' heavy bags, and set off towards Honeydukes, where Arabella and Sirius were examining the Pepper Imps, grinning evilly at each other.

"Hey," greeted Lily, as they went to where they were standing.

"Oh, Lils, we have a brilliant plan," said Arabella, her eyes sparkling excitedly. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, but what about Kevin?" she asked innocently. Arabella colored.

"I'm still going out with him, but he's somewhere at the Three Broomsticks with his friends."

"How come he dumped Deanna for you?"

"He got her pregnant, didn't he?" exclaimed James, jumping.

"Er—well, actually, I'm not sure what happened," she admitted. "He avoided the topic when I asked."

"Duh. That's because…ouch! What the heck was that for, Evans?" Lily nodded her head towards Kevin, who was headed their way.

"Oh! Er—hello, Kevin," said James politely. Kevin sneered at him.

"Hmm…if it isn't the Mr. Hot-shot himself, James Potter, along with Miss I'm-So-Wonderful, Lily Evans." Both Lily and James turned bright red.

"Leave them alone, Kevin, they didn't do anything to you," snapped Arabella.

"Why, didn't they, Ella, my dear?" Arabella cringed at the nickname. "James Potter refused the woes of poor Deanna Jackson, that's what. I only dated her to comfort her, but since she had to leave school at such a young age of fourteen—" He pretended to sigh wistfully.

"What the hell did you do to her, Patil?" growled James, clenching his fists. "I knew you went and got her pregnant or whatnot…"

"Well, I wouldn't be telling you, now, would I, Potter?" asked Kevin delicately.

"You—you—" Arabella spoke up, her face red and her voice trembling. "Get away from me, you perverted idiot! And stay away!"

Kevin was taken aback. "Surely you don't believe a word Potter has said, do you, Ella?"

"James is my friend, and Lily my best friend, and here you're insulting them both! Stop it!" she shrieked.

"Mr. Patil! Ms. Figg! What on earth are you yelling about?" They all turned around to see Professor McGonagall peering sternly at them behind her spectacles. 

"Sorry, Professor," they both apologized meekly.

"Dear me, I thought the world was coming down," she muttered, strolling away again, glaring at the pair of them for one last time. 

"Puh! McGonagall's going to get it one of these days," spat Kevin, as he pushed Arabella roughly and went to join his "friends".

Arabella started crying. "Oh, Lily, James, I'm so sorry I did such a bad thing! But—oh, you're right, I can't survive without Sirius. I love him, I really do."

Lily and James looked at each other in surprise. "Well—love is a really powerful word, Bella, but—" Lily began, but Arabella cut her off again.

"Will you please help me get him to notice me again? Both of you?" Her teary eyes pleaded them wearily.

"Of course, Bella, anything for my best friend." Lily smiled, and Arabella hugged her tightly.

"Thanks, Lil, you're the greatest friend ever."

***

"Er—hi, Sirius," said Arabella nervously, as she flinched continuously when Sirius placed an arm around another girl's waist.

"Hey, Bells." His eyes brightened at the sight of her, but frowned slightly as he saw she had no accompaniment. "I see you don't have Kevin with you today."

"Oh, he's a worthless person, I found out that he's an idiot who—"

"Did you just say Kevin Patil is free?" asked the blonde cuddling next to Sirius. Arabella nodded, secretly disgusted at her.

"Oh, well what am I waiting for? Sorry, Sirius, it was a nice relationship we had, but I am so getting Kev before any other girl." She raced off to the staircase.

Sirius sighed hopelessly. "Another girl gone. Soon I'll be going through Violet and Lily if I have to, to find the right girl for me." He laughed bitterly.

"Sirius, you're way too young for such nonsense, try concentrating on your studies. We have exams in a couple more weeks!"

"Bells, you're turning to be just like Lily." He grinned.

Arabella blushed. "Is this a compliment—or a threat?" 

Sirius put on a puppy face. "Now, why would it be a threat?"

She shrugged. "Don't know."

"Is Lily and James together?"

"Not on your life, bud."

"Darn." Arabella laughed.

"I told you, they'd be together by maybe sixth or seventh year." She grinned at Sirius' horrified face.

"I'm not waiting for three to five more years, I want them together **now**!" He pouted.

Bella shrugged. "You can't get everything in life."

"I know, but I should."

"Well, I should, too, then."

"Fine, what do you want in life?"

Arabella shrugged again. "It's my business and not anyone else's."

"C'mon, Bella, you have to tell me!" Arabella shook her head.

"No, I can't. Really, Sirius, it's too personal."

"But—"

"No." With that, Arabella walked off to where Lily and James were arguing (again), and plopped into a chair next to James.

"Hey."

James looked up and grinned. "Hey, Bells. How'd it go?"

"Awful. Sirius tried to get me to tell him what I wanted most in life, and I couldn't tell him _that_."

"Why not?" He furrowed his brow.

"Why"—she looked at him in surprise—"I want _him _more than anything else in life right now, and that's the one thing that I can't get."

James stood up abruptly and stared at her. "You mean all you want in life is to have Sirius again, and be together and happy? Out of all the things in life that you could have?"

Arabella nodded, and James' jaw dropped in horror.

"That's outrageous!"

"Potter, stop bothering Bella and mind your own business," snapped Lily, looking up from her book.

"Who says I'll listen to you?" asked James, sticking out his tongue. Lily grimaced at the immaturity of it.

"Because I'll hex you good."

"Ha! As if you know _any _hexes at all!"

Lily flipped her book so that James could see the cover: _200 Ways to Hex Your Enemies._

"Enough proof yet?" she asked coldly. James nodded mutely.

"Now"—she turned her attention back to Bella—"what was it you were saying, Bells?"

"I can't stand it any longer, Lils," gasped Arabella. "I need…Sirius. I don't think I can survive without him. You're right, I should have just swallowed all my pride and tell him that I'm sorry and that we should be going steady again. But—" She burst into tears again.

"Bella?" Sirius stood there, looking at her with tender eyes. "What's wrong?"

Before Lily could hiss an insult, Arabella pushed past him and ran up to the girls' dormitory. Lily glared at him, but didn't follow her, knowing that her best friend needed some time alone.

"You leave her alone, Sirius Black, or I'll hex you good," she threatened, poking her wand at his chest.

"What did I do, though?" questioned Sirius, bewildered.

"Just"—Lily struggled to find the right words—"just forget about it, all right? Why would you care, anyway? You guys aren't friends at all. There's always a tension around whenever you two talk to each other. So why would YOU care?" 

"I—" Sirius was lost for words. He looked at James pleadingly for help, but his best friend looked away.

"And to think you said that James and I were perfect for each other."

***

Everything was stiffer for everyone now. Lily dragged all her friends to study for the exams, and sighed as she stared at the Divination charts horrifically. Jennifer and Remus were still going steady, though the latter acted rather strange lately, and the boys were in more huddled conversations.

"Remus J. Lupin, come here," said Jennifer threateningly, grabbing the arm of her boyfriend and dragging him to a darker corner of the common room.

"Yes, Jenny?" asked Remus, rather nervously.

Jennifer sighed. "Remie, everyone's unhappy lately. Lily and James, naturally, aren't talking to each other, but they never do without wishing the other ill will, so forget about them for now. Arabella and Sirius need to get together—everyone knows it, even the slimy Slytherins. We need to make everyone happy again, like we were at the beginning of the year and in the past two years. Please Remus, you have to help me." She begged. "Along with Lily and James, of course."

Remus smiled. "Of course I will, Jen."

Jennifer smiled back. "Good, 'cause I wasn't taking 'no' for an answer."

-

"Ouch! Stop it, Potter!"

"You stop it, Evans!"

"You!"

"_You_!"

"James Henry Potter and Lily Roseanne Evans, stop arguing this instant!" shrieked Jennifer, as she sighed in impatience.

"Can't you guys become friends?" asked Remus mournfully.

"No!" they both yelled.

"You guys, are you going to help Siri and Bella, or what?" questioned Jennifer wearily.

"Of course we will, Jenny!" exclaimed Lily in surprise.

"THEN STOP BLOODY ARGUING!"

"All right," said both Lily and James in a small voice.

"Good." After Jennifer calmed down a bit, she discussed the plan with Lily, James, and Remus. After a few minutes of whispering and planning, James jumped up.

"You mean we get them to hate each other?" he shouted in surprise.

"No, you git!" said Lily impatiently. "Not even close to what we're doing! We get Sissy Lambert and Frank Longbottom to be Sirius and Arabella's girlfriend and boyfriend, respectively. Then those two will get jealous, obviously, so they make up and there we have it, folks, our old, favorite couple again!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm and bitterness.

"All right, then, no need to be angry."

The foursome then dragged Violet, who was bullying her brain to turn a frog into a goblet, out of the girls' dormitory where they were meeting, and all hurried to find Sissy and Frank. They found them sitting in opposite sides of the common room, studying for the exams, and they begged them to assent to their plan. Sissy, being the sweet and kind girl she was, agreed heartily to contain the "Figg and Black" couple again, but Frank had rebelled. He had said something about being an Auror when he graduated out of Hogwarts, and needed top grades every year, so he had no time for "wishy-washy nonsense". Lily, Jennifer, and Violet had begged him with tear-filled eyes and James and Remus made him unlimited promises and deals. Finally, Frank assented, feeling slightly warm that the five would do anything to make their two friends happy again.

"So I have to be Sirius' girlfriend?" asked Sissy, rather nervously. "But—I don't think he even knows my name!"

"Well…" Lily looked warmly at the frightened second year. "Don't worry, we won't let Bella kill you, but…"

"Sirius will date any girl at this point, don't worry," assured James, smiling. 

"What about me?" demanded Frank. "This is so stupid, I can't believe you dragged me into this, James."

"Oh, please, Frank, you know how your daddy told you to look out for little Jamsie before my first day at Hogwarts." He pouted.

Frank sighed. "Oh, very well, but what should I do? I don't like the looks of that Arabella Figg, she's far too giggly and frivolous for me."

"Frank, you don't have to date her for real, it's part of our plan," said Lily, sighing. "Can't you agree to **anything **we tell you? Besides, Bella's not giggly; she's a clever and sweet girl. She just turned bad because of a certain someone named Sirius Black."

"Fine," said Frank helplessly. "I won't complain again. But what _is _it that I have to do?"

"Seduce Arabella, and dump her, the same time Sissy dumps Sirius." Both jaws dropped, looking shocked at the very idea of "seducing" and "dumping".

"You have to be kidding me!" cried Frank.

"Isn't dumping someone too mean?" asked Sissy timidly.

"Don't worry, we won't get mad," said James brightly. Lily slapped him on the arm.

"Guys, I know it's a bit too much, but it won't be real. Sirius and Arabella lo—er—like each other too much, so they won't get heartbroken. Now, if this plan backfires like last time"—Lily glared at James—"you will be personally injured and tortured for the rest of your life, Potter."

James winced. _This better work or my life will be ruined_, he thought gloomily. _See Sirius – see how much I do for you?_

-

"So…Arabella," said Frank, his voice shaking. "Would you like to maybe go out with me for some time?" After many hours of practice, the five third years had made the stiff and rule-abiding fourth year a slick and social one.

"Er—sure," replied Arabella doubtfully. She was surprised at the change that overcame Frank Longbottom, since he was usually more strict than even the prefects who patrolled the school to scold any rule-breakers…namely, the Marauders.

"Great!" exclaimed Frank, maybe a bit too over-enthusiastically. "How about tonight? Meet me at the portrait hole at seven o'clock."

"Sure," said Arabella, biting her lip. Frank grinned and left to study again, glad that it didn't take much effort at all.

Meanwhile, Sissy was smiling a bit too much at Sirius, who grinned back, rather hesitantly.

"S-so, y-you want t-to g-go t-to—" she stuttered, but Sirius kindly finished her sentence for her.

"To maybe have a study session together?"

"Y-yeah, t-that."

"Sure!"

"Great…" Sissy trailed off, a bit embarrassed at how terrible it went. Oh well, at least a third of the mission was accomplished. Then she had to spend more time with Sirius and—dump him. Sissy gulped at the latter.

"Well…how did it go?" asked Jennifer excitedly, as Sissy and Frank went to their meeting spot again.

"Awful," replied Sissy, at the same time Frank said, "Great!"

The five of them raised their eyebrows questioningly and were about to say something, but Arabella and Sirius stormed into the common room, screaming at each other.

"YOU MEAN YOU'RE HAVING A STUDY SESSION WITH THAT BLASTED LONGBOTTOM?" roared Sirius.

"WELL, HE'S NOT THAT BAD, YOU KNOW! WHAT ABOUT YOU, YOU'RE GOING WITH SISSY LAMBERT, THE MOST PATHETIC AND SL—" cried Arabella. Sissy's eyes widened, and tears formed in them.

"ARABELLA FIGG AND SIRIUS BLACK, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SCREAMING FOR?" bellowed James, standing up angrily. "I MEAN, SERIOUSLY, FRANK AND SISSY ARE JUST GOING OUT WITH YOU GUYS BECAUSE _WE _ASKED THEM TO! YES, THAT'S RIGHT, WE DID! YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE YOU TWO BLOODY LOVE EACH OTHER, FOR GOD'S SAKE, AND YOU WON'T ADMIT IT! SO WE TRIED TO GET YOU GUYS JEALOUS AND MAKE UP ALREADY. BUT IS IT WORKING—**NO**! NOW YOU'RE BLAMING EVERYTHING ON FRANK AND SISSY, WHO HAVEN'T DONE A SINGLE THING WRONG!" He huffed and stormed off to the boys' dormitory, furious.

Everyone stopped what he or she was doing in stunned silence. Even Lily was speechless, mouthing something about ruining their plan in silence. No one said a word, until Sirius swallowed all of his pride for the last few weeks and apologized, while Arabella did the same, vice-versa.

"Are we together again?" he asked softly. 

Arabella nodded. "Can we be together again, Sirius?"

"Of course." When they kissed, the whole common room erupted in cheers and whistles. Even some girls had tears in their eyes, beaming at the romantic scene that lay out before them.

Lily started to cry. It was beautiful, how romance could be repaired and restored when the two lovers swallowed their prides and apologized and made-up. But why she really cried was because it could never happen to her. She made a vow to herself never to fall in love with any boy ever, and to live and die as an old maid for the rest of her life. Little did Lily know, however, that she had fallen in love with a certain messy-haired boy ever since the first day of Hogwarts, back at King's Cross—but didn't realize it.

***

__

"Lily, can I tell you something?" An older James Potter was almost shaking as he chafed his hands.

"Sure, James," replied the redhead, puzzled as to why James was so nervous.

"I-I think—I know—that I love you, Lily Roseanne Evans," he said firmly. 

Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Truly, James? Do you mean it?"

"With all my heart and soul."

Lily smiled weakly and said, "Well, I've never felt this way about any boy before, but I love you, too, James Henry Potter."

James' eyes widened, and he cradled Lily's face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Lily enjoyed every moment of that kiss. Sure, James had kissed her before many, many times, but this kiss was different. It wasn't a friendly kiss; instead, it showed how deeply they cared for each other, and how far those roots of love went. They were oblivious to their six other friends watching them with great smiles, but only saw themselves and knew that they were in love.

"What the—?" Lily awoke the next morning, and checked the time. Great, it was only six o'clock in the morning, and she was ready to bet that her friends wouldn't be awake until about eight or nine, since it was Saturday. She got dressed and went down to the common room, and pulled out _Hogwarts, A History._

"Lily?" Lily turned around to see the brown eyes of James Potter scrutinizing her closely.

"Potter? What are you doing down here at this hour?"

"I could be asking you to the same thing."

"I—I had a dream again, and I couldn't sleep any longer, so I came down here," said Lily quickly, thinking of the first phrase that popped into her head.

"Really? Same with me! It was something about—" He cut himself off, blushing furiously.

"About…?"

"About…me telling you that I loved you, and vice-versa. But it was when we were older!" he added quickly.

"That's the dream I dreamt about."

James looked relieved. "Really?"

"Yeah—I can't believe I would _love _you later on. It's scary." Lily shivered.

"Hey! I resent that!"

"And I don't!"

"Will you two shut up already?" They turned around to see Frank Longbottom at a table, with piles of books and parchment stacked high above him. He was reading _Intermediate Transfiguration _and scribbling notes on a piece of parchment.

"Sorry, Frankie," apologized James, smirking. "Didn't know you would be up at this hour studying for the bloody exams."

"They're important," he replied stiffly, and Lily snorted. Even she didn't care that much about exams.

"Really, Frank, relax. Even I'm not worrying about them, and I was nearly having heart attacks last year."

Frank smiled at Lily. He had always liked her, because she was extremely clever and loyal. But then again, he favored James and Sirius out of all of them for their friendship. Everyone knew that Sirius Black and James Potter was the best duo of pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen, along with Remus Lupin and the fourth follower, Peter Pettigrew. They were a legend. Frank's father had told him to look out for little James two years ago, when James was just starting Hogwarts as a first year. The Potters were always the Longbottoms' closest friends, and James and Frank were also neighbors, as well. 

"Yeah, well…Dad still wants me to be an Auror, so—"

"Aww, Frankie, Frankie, I'm going to be an Auror, too, when I graduate from Hogwarts, and I'm not worrying about anything," interrupted James confidently.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Well, young James, I don't know how you get top grades even though you don't study, but I sure don't have your _special _talent."

"Sh, hush up you two, I hear something!" whispered Lily. 

They all watched in anticipation as to what the rustling noise was. Soon enough, Arabella and Sirius were coming down the stairs, snogging along the way. Frank tried his best not to snort, while Lily and James' jaws dropped. Usually those lovebirds were the last to get up after Jennifer and Remus, but they happened to be the first today. _Probably couldn't resist a good snog session, _mused Lily, grinning.

James thought it was extremely amusing to break up the heated snog. "So nice of you to join us, Mr. Black, Ms. Figg," he said, trying to sound like Professor McGonagall. Arabella and Sirius jumped off each other, and looked around wildly, only to see the amused faces of Lily, James, and Frank.

"Oh, you—" Arabella shook her head, laughing. "James, you got us again."

"Frank, what are you doing up so early? I usually thought the fourth years were the last to get up," said Sirius, grinning.

"Well, Black, even I couldn't resist such a display of affection between you and Ms. Figg," said Frank dryly. Lily and James laughed, while both Bella and Sirius blushed furiously.

"What's all this ruckus?" asked Jennifer, as she and a sleepy Remus came down the staircase.

"Bella and Siri-boy here were giving us a bit of a show here," replied James amusedly. Remus cleared his throat while Jennifer smiled.

"Oh, _did _you, Bella?" she asked teasingly. "What was it? Snogging or kissing?"

"Snogging," the whole common room said, minus Sirius and Arabella.

-

"My God, _hurry up_!" cried Lily, as they raced through the corridor. "We'll be late for our Transfiguration exam, and then what'll McGonagall say?"

"Lils, calm down, McGonagall likes you, she won't kill you," panted Arabella. Jennifer and Violet were sprinting behind.

"Oh, if I get a bad grade on my exam, Potter will be dead as a doornail," Lily growled, as she pushed the Transfiguration room open. McGonagall was already grading the fifth person on how to turn an apple into a pigeon, and turned in surprise to see the four panting girls race into their seats. Behind them, the Marauders sniggered loudly, congratulating each other quietly at a job well done.

"Ms. Evans, Ms. Figg, Ms. Walker, Ms. Dean, what is the meaning of this?" cried McGonagall.

Before any of them could reply, Violet screeched, "It was Potter, Professor, Potter and his gang. He put glue on the floor where we were walking, and we took ten minutes to even move!"

Professor McGonagall was taken aback. Usually Violet Walker was a quiet and reserved girl, and Evans, Figg, and Dean did the talking when they were in trouble. She glared at the four sniggering boys and said sharply, "Is this true, boys?"

Sirius put on a puppy face. "Why, why would you think that, Professor? Surely the girls just fed Violet a cock-and-bull story about us doing that; you know we'd never."

Professor McGonagall glared at them menacingly. "I'd hate to give you detention for the last few weeks of school, but you must have some sort of punishment. You will play no pranks from today until the last day of school." Everyone gasped; they knew that this was something the Marauders couldn't do.

James spluttered. "B-but, P-Professor, we have so much planned!"

"Well, Mr. Potter, maybe it's time to actually study like Ms. Evans does." She beamed at Lily, who smiled smugly at James. He glared at her. Suddenly, Lily felt guilty having the Marauders not play any pranks for the rest of this year. She knew that she and her friends depended on them entertaining the girls. Without them, everything would be boring.

"Please, Professor, maybe you can tell them to clean up the Trophy Room, or something?" Lily begged. "Please, don't give them such a punishment; my friends and I don't care too much about a bit of glue." Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet all nodded vigorously.

McGonagall was surprised. This certainly was a day for surprises! "Very well, Ms. Evans. Potter, you and your little gang will be cleaning up the Trophy Room tomorrow evening with Mr. Filch."

The Marauders looked relieved and thanked Professor McGonagall. 

-

"Lily, wait up!" Lily turned around to see the Marauders running after her.

"Yeah?"

"Look, we're real sorry about the prank and all, and we just wanted to thank you for saving our skin in Transfiguration," said James sincerely. Lily smiled.

"No problem, it was nothing. Oh, and that reminds me"—she smiled mysteriously at them—"How would you like to come to my house this summer? You know, experience what it's like to live your life as a Muggle and all…if you don't have plans already."

"We'd love to!" the four Marauders shrieked.

"Good, 'cause I wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, anyway."

"Lils, we always knew you had a good heart," said Arabella, smiling, as the girls caught up with their friend.

"You're one out of a million, Lily," said Violet warmly. Jennifer hugged her friend.

"Yeah, we can look all we want, but we can never find a friend as great as you." They all entangled into a hug, while the boys made a face.

"Too sappy," they chanted.

The girls glared at them. "Well, deal with it."

***

"Have you got everything planned out for the summer, Evans?" asked James, as he dragged his trunk alongside Lily's, as they were prepared to leave for the Hogwarts Express.

"Er—actually, I forgot to owl my parents yesterday," admitted Lily.

"WHAT? How can you forget? What if they say 'no'?"

"They won't. My mum absolutely loves people related to you, and my dad never minds anything. Just don't be so sure about Petunia, though…" She trailed off, feeling a surge of anger.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Let's go get a compartment before we have to sit with Snape and Malfoy."

They found an empty compartment at the very end of the train and were soon joined by Sirius, Arabella, Remus, Jennifer, Violet, and Peter. Lily and James had a heated argument about how irresponsible the other was, while Jennifer and Remus battled in chess, and miraculously, for the first time, Jennifer had beaten him.

"Don't feel so bad, Remie," she cooed, kissing him deeply.

"Yeah, you shouldn't get mad at your wife," mocked Arabella. "Jennifer Lupin, it's rude to show such affection to your husband."

"Bella…" Jennifer rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Lily and James were still arguing.

"Ugh! You're so irresponsible, you big, fat egotist!"

"Well, you're so perfect, Ms. I'm-So-Great-Because-I'm-Perfect!"

"Four-eyes!"

"Carrot-top!"

"Bird's nest!"

It was quite uneventful for the rest of the train ride, until James and Lily had finally stopped bickering as they went to their parents.

"Mum! Dad!" Lily raced into her parents' arms and ignored Petunia, who was skulking about as usual.

"Mum…could maybe my friends come over this summer?" she asked eagerly, looking from her mum to her dad.

Mrs. Evans beamed. "Of course, dear! Will you be inviting James?"

Lily rolled her eyes. How much did her mum love that egotist? "Oh yeah, he's invited, Mum." And she added, after her mother struck up a conversation with the Potters, "Unfortunately."

"You know, Lily, I'm not that bad," said James, grinning, as he came over to where Lily was.

"You aren't? I never would have guessed," said Lily sarcastically.

"You know, for freaks, you two would make a cute couple," said Petunia sullenly, as she smirked evilly.

Lily chose to pointedly ignore Petunia's comment, though it was stuck at the back of her mind.

"Well, Potter," she said, trying to smile, "I can tolerate you now, at least."

James shrugged. "That's an improvement. I can tolerate you, too."

They both headed to where their parents were, wondering the same thing. Would they ever become friends? And after that…lovers? Both Lily and James shook their heads at the last thought, not believing it at all, though they hadn't realized that they had already fallen for each other from way back in their first year.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does, etc., etc.

A/N: All right, here's the deal: my story is going nowhere at this point, and I'm really bored, so I would appreciate some feedback as to what should be improved and what I should emphasize in the summer of their third year. So, please help! Thanks! *smile*

Yeah! **_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_** comes out in…*counts*…in around two months! Yep, I'm so lazy, so I don't feel like doing any math. After all, I am on vacation :D 


	12. Summer of Third Year

Summer of Third Year

Lily dragged the other seven to a café near Bristol, where she lived. Arabella, Sirius, Remus, James, Violet, and Peter were all looking around the places curiously, while Lily and Jennifer, having Muggle blood in them, nodded knowingly at everything. Passersby looked strangely at the children, for normal people don't exactly don shabby robes (Remus), old-fashioned, medieval dresses (Sirius), and funny clown hats (Peter). The boys had dressed horrendously when they came to Lily's house at the beginning of summer vacation, and Lily had started laughing when she saw the funny sight. 

"Where are we going, Lily?" asked Arabella, still staring interestedly at a small girl's lollipop.

"To the café, Bella, how many times have I told you?" answered Lily, exasperated. "Mum said we could all get a nice cup of coffee or tea, with scones and biscuits."

"And what does this…_coffee_ do to you?" said James curiously.

"Well, it's a stimulant, so it makes you more awake."

"What's a stimulant?"

"Something that stimulates your body."

"What does 'stimulate' mean?"

Lily sighed helplessly. "Never mind, you. Come on, this place has the best coffee! I assume you all know what tea is, though?"

Everyone nodded, making a face. _Evidently, _thought Lily, _none of these weirdos like tea. Well, I don't blame 'em; I hate tea, too._

"How do you open this door?" demanded Sirius, shattering Lily's musings. He pushed the door with all his might, earning disbelieving looks from people passing by.

"Oh, Sirius," said Lily, sighing once more, "it says here to _pull_, not push."

Remus snorted with laughter, clutching his stomach, while Jennifer grinned. Sirius made a face at them and pulled open the door, whacking his nose in the process. Now everyone started laughing, while a pouting Sirius rubbed his red nose. Lily rolled her eyes and opened the door for everyone. Inside, it was nice and cool, unlike the scorching weather outside. A soft melody was playing, and the cling of cash registers rang in the atmosphere, as busy cashiers served the customers.

"Oh, do hurry up, Lils, I'm starving," whined Sirius.

"Sirius, we just had lunch an hour ago, and besides, cafés aren't supposed to mollify your hunger; it's supposed to just provide you with a nice snack. Goodness, is this line slow!" Lily tapped her feet impatiently as a young woman at the front of the line struggled to find a few coins in her purse.

"Why are we waiting here?" asked James, also getting annoyed.

"Well, why do you think, Potter? You think that you can just slap a table, and coffee appears out of nowhere?" snapped Lily.

"Well—that's what we do at Ministry balls," replied James, confused.

Lily slapped her forehead. "Potter, open your eyes. This is the Muggle world! We don't have any magic to make life easier! When we go somewhere, we don't Apparate or use Floo Powder; we drive, ride a bike, or walk. When we need something or lost something, we don't just say _'Accio'_, and the object comes to us; we have to go look for it or get it ourselves. Understand?"

James was taken aback. "But—that's hard!" he spluttered.

"Well, James, welcome to the real world," muttered Jennifer. Violet stifled a laugh.

Arabella started to giggle. "Really, Sirius, you didn't need to put on a dress; Muggle men and boys wear _pants_, not dresses."

"Humph! I don't care at all," said Sirius airily. 

"Can I help you, miss?" asked the cashier, peering down at Lily.

"Yes, please," said Lily politely, and ordered them all a cup of coffee, and a whole plateful of biscuits and scones.

"Fifteen pounds," said the cashier, looking a bit strained, as he handed her two trays. Both Lily and Jennifer carried them to a nearby table and set them down.

"Well, help yourselves," said the latter cheerfully.

Sirius immediately drained his coffee down, but spat it out quickly. "This is nasty stuff! What do these Muggles think of?" However, he quite enjoyed the sweet biscuits and blueberry scones.

Arabella ate and drank with perfect manners of a lady, which impressed many of the customers at the café. When a group of boys were drooling at her from a nearby table, Sirius had noticed them and snapped immediately. The boys jumped and proceeded to their business, not daring to look at her again.

James was staring out the window, where cars and buses were honking each other noisily, while people rushed in and out of buildings in a hurry. He had grown up and spent his whole life in the wizarding world, so he had never experienced or known how Lily's life was in the Muggle world. No Apparating or using any sort of magic—because there was none! The mere thought of not using magic at all for any purpose was a very foreign and frightening thought to James. However, he attempted to enjoy himself just the same, since he saw Lily chatting merrily with the three girls, as if this was nothing different than at Hogwarts.

"Why so quiet, boys?" she asked enthusiastically. "Enjoying your coffee?"

Remus and Peter nodded mutely, while Sirius shook his head vigorously. James was silent.

"What's gotten into you guys?" exclaimed Arabella, surprised. "Usually you guys are plotting and planning your next pranks at school! Oh wait, I know…" She looked at them sympathetically. "You guys miss the wizard—our world, don't you?"

The four boys nodded mutely, and James finally spoke up. "Look, it's really nice here—but it's not like home. I can't imagine life without using magic. You girls are getting used to it, but I don't know if we can." He glanced around at the rest of the Marauders.

"Look, Potter, I understand," said Lily, in a calm voice. "I know it's different and I know how you feel. I felt the same way you do at our first year at Hogwarts. Everything was so different: ghosts existed, magic was around every corner, and creatures such as centaurs and unicorns, which are imaginary in this world, existed in your world. So, if you feel that you need to go home…" She gulped.

"We won't leave you and the girls, Lil," said Remus, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry we'll get used to it." And to confirm his statement, the other three boys nodded over-enthusiastically. They didn't want to hurt Lily's feelings because of their own selfish reasons. After all, she did invite them to her home warmly, providing them food and shelter for the whole summer.

Lily gave them a warm smile. "Thanks, guys. I didn't want you guys to ditch us girls here all alone. After all, you're a great source of entertainment."

"Really?" The boys' faces brightened, and Jennifer grinned. 

"Come on, Remie, surely you don't want to leave me for the whole summer, do you?" she asked coyly, her fingers intertwining with his.

"Yeah, Siri, what about your poor Bella, huh?" said Arabella, pouting.

Lily shook her head, smiling, though James saw pain in her green eyes. He knew that she probably wanted someone to cuddle next to her like Arabella and Jennifer had, and to comfort her when she was sad or kiss her when she was happy. He sighed. James also wanted that type of girl, but…there wasn't much of a chance that he'd find her. Nearly all the girls at Hogwarts, excluding the Slytherins, chased him around like lost puppies. He knew that they only liked him for his looks and his reputation, and cared not a whit about his personality. If only he would ever find a girl that cared more about the kind of person he was instead of caring about "that cute pout and the adorable eyes".

Arabella and Sirius, seeing their friends' troubled faces, smiled evilly at each other. "Those two need to get together," whispered Sirius.

"They're not even friends yet; how could they?" hissed Arabella.

"Well, they need each other, Bella. Poor Jamie-boy never can find his true love, since the girls who chase him around are a bunch of stupid airheads, who go for a guy's looks instead of his personality."

"Wow, Sirius, I think that was the most sentimental thing you've ever said in your life," said Arabella sarcastically.

"What?" asked Jennifer. 

"Aww…finished your snog session with Remie, Jen?" Arabella smirked.

Jennifer blushed. "We were not snogging, were we, Remus?"

"Of course not!" exclaimed Remus, scandalized at the very thought of "snogging".

"See, Bella." Jennifer stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Blah…Lils, this coffee is nast-y and I hate tea, so is there anything else to drink?" asked Sirius hopefully, making a face at the cup of black liquid in front of him.

"Sure." Lily went up to the cashier, and came back a few minutes later with a glass of cranberry juice and a platter of cinnamon-and-raison bread for Sirius.

"How come he gets the good stuff?" demanded James, as Sirius ate and drank hungrily. "Aww…do you have a little crush on my best friend?"

Lily glared at him. "_No, _Potter, I was actually just sick of Sirius whining all day about how nasty coffee and tea is. And now he's shut up considerably nicely, thanks all to me."

James sniffed disdainfully. "You think you're so perfect and wonderful, Evans. Well, you're not."

"James Potter, how can you say such a thing?" cried Violet, standing up. The whole café went quiet, but she took no notice. "Lily has welcomed us, even _you, _who's been her enemy for so long, into her home for the whole summer, and now you're insulting her! How can you dare?" She sat down again, her eyes glazed.

Everyone at the table was silent, even Jennifer, who didn't make her usual comment of congratulations to Violet. James bit his lip and opened his mouth to apologize to Lily, but she didn't want him to talk.

"Don't apologize, James," she said sharply.

"But Lily—"

"James, just shut up!"

"But—"

"**Now**!"

James shut up nicely, though he was extremely hurt. Why hadn't Lily wanted him to apologize? After all, he had insulted her like Violet had stated.

Meanwhile, Lily was furious at James. Why couldn't he ever keep his fat mouth shut? He always insulted her and wounded her self-esteem, though she rarely did so to him. 

Arabella and Sirius exchanged nervous glances at each other, while Jennifer and Remus ate their sweet bread and scones in silence. Violet was still fuming over James, while Peter placed his hand on hers as a sign of comfort. She smiled wearily at him, though she was still livid at James.

And so that was how the afternoon passed—slow and silent.

-

The next day, James had attempted to apologize again, but Lily ignored him like he didn't even exist. Mrs. Evans was extremely troubled that Lily and James weren't speaking to each other, though she still wasn't told about the prophecy of Lily and James marrying, so she didn't fret all day. Mr. Evans always raised his eyebrows questioningly at either James or Lily whenever they passed him throughout that day. Petunia was out with her Dursley friends, Marge and Vernon, for a week, because she didn't want to hang around the house with eight "freaks". And so it was only the Evans, and Lily's friends at the lonely residence.

After a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes, muffins, and scrambled eggs, Arabella had cornered Lily on the way to her room.

"You have to accept James' apology," she begged. "He's been trying to apologize to you all yesterday and today so far. And you call Sirius and me stubborn!"

"Potter just can't stop insulting me, can he, even after I invited him to my house!" rambled Lily. "I mean, really, I 'dislike' him, and yet I was kind enough, out of the generosity of my heart, to invite him here for the whole summer."

"Well, he did invite you to his mansion last summer," added Arabella timidly. 

Lily looked as if she were about to explode. "_Yes, _I suppose he _did_, but we were on good terms then…" She trailed off, knowing that she had lost the verbal battle.

Arabella snorted. "Lils, you've never been on good terms with James, ever."

"Better terms than now, then," she said quickly.

"Better terms with who?" asked Sirius, who saw his friend and girlfriend discussing seriously at the front of Lily's room.

"Lily's not going to accept James' apology," said Arabella, sighing. "If only she was slightly less stubborn now—"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Really, Flower, Jamie didn't mean any harm; he never does. He just never thinks before he speaks, so he injures so many people emotionally. Don't worry, if you think you're suffering, then think again, because he is too. He kept me, Remie, and Pete up all last night moaning and complaining that you will never forgive him and that Harry will never be born. It was mostly just rambles, but it _did _keep me from my beauty sleep. And Remus hates to be interrupted from his sleep."

"Well, I'm sorry if you didn't get enough sleep last night," said Lily sincerely, "but it wasn't my fault; it was Potter's, so don't blame me."

"What was my fault?" They turned around to see James peering at the threesome curiously.

"Mind your own business, Potter," snapped Lily nastily. 

James was taken aback. "Whoa, I didn't mean to offend you there, Ms. Popular. I was only trying to find Sirius so we can discuss some _private _matters." He emphasized the last two words.

"Well, go ahead, take him, I've no need for him," said Lily coldly.

As soon as James reached the room where he was sharing with the other three boys, he slammed the door angrily behind him.

"I can't stand Evans!" he bellowed.

Remus and Peter were startled. "James, calm down," said Remus.

"I can't, Remie. For God's sake, why won't that girl just accept my apology? I didn't mean what I said, honest!"

"Perhaps she's just sick of you teasing and taunting her, James," said Remus softly. "Maybe you guys should—become friends. Give her a break, for heaven's sake. You guys are arguing every day about something."

"I can't help that she's so disagreeable."

"James, Lily will accept your apology when she's ready," said Sirius seriously. "In the mean time, what about our Animagi potion? It said in the book, _How to Become Animagi_ that it takes nearly half a year to prepare the potion for drinking. So we need to get a move on if we're actually going to become Animagi before we graduate from Hogwarts."

"Sirius," said Remus quietly, "do you think it wise to become Animagi at all? I mean, I know we've gotten this far, but—it's dangerous become Animagi just for me. What if someone finds out that you're illegal Animagi, since you wouldn't be in the chart? And—it's not worth being arrested just for me." He looked down at his feet.

James was the first one to speak up. "Remus, we'd do anything for you. We're your friends, and we really want to help you. I mean, I know how hard it is being a werewolf, since there are so many dense people in this world who are prejudiced against werewolves. So we want to make your worst experiences the best ones you'll ever have in your life." He went over to embrace Remus like the brother he was.

Remus smiled at James, with tears in his eyes. "Thanks, James. You know"—he looked around at Sirius and Peter—"you guys are really the best friends I've ever had, and will ever have. I never knew that this world would have such good people who don't judge me by what I am, but judge me by who I am. You guys are the best." The four boys went into a tight embrace, until they were met with the amused eyes of the four girls.

"Well, if this isn't such a nice little reunion," said Lily, laughing. But when they walked closer, she saw that Remus had tears in his eyes.

"Remus? Why are you crying?" asked Jennifer, alarmed.

Remus smiled. "It's nothing, Jenny. The weather's just a bit humid, and Sirius here—er—fed me an onion, so—er—I started to have tears in my eyes." He said the first excuse that came into his mind.

"Oh." Jennifer didn't look as if she believed him, but didn't push him in further discussion. "We just wanted to ask if you guys wanted to go shopping with us."

"Shopping?" repeated James. "Shopping for _what_?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Just plain shopping, Potter. Honestly, you don't expect me to wear the same clothes as I did last year, do you?"

"Well, that's what we fellows all do," replied James shrugging.

"Well, are you coming or not?" asked Arabella impatiently.

The four boys looked at each other and somewhat through telepathy, came up with an answer. "All right, we're going," said Peter.

"Good," said Lily, grinning. "Then we can get you guys some decent Muggle clothing, since Sirius here is still wearing some sort of opera singer's dress. Mum nearly had a heart attack yesterday when she saw a boy wearing a dress."

Jennifer laughed. "I know…you see? You guys entertain this whole household! You four are great!"

"You mean the three of them, Jen," said Lily, her eyes turning coldly towards James. "Surely, Potter, you don't think you stand a chance in being a part of the Marauder group, do you?"

"_I _am the one who came up with the group and the group name, Evans," said James icily.

"Oh, what an accomplishment, I'm sure it took ages," said Lily sarcastically.

Violet looked nervously between the two and said, "Er—perhaps we should start going."

Lily looked at her friend. "Yeah, you're right, Vi, we should get going. Come, Potter, let's go. I mean, you seriously need new clothes—just look at them now!"

"There's nothing wrong with my—" began James, but Lily cut him off.

"Well, what are you waiting for, hurry up, chop, chop!"

James rolled his eyes. _Evans is one heck of a girl – and she's as stubborn as a mule, too._

***

"Ouch!" cried Remus, as Jennifer piled another bag in his arms. "Really, Jenny, I think this is enough.

"_Enough? _Remus Lupin, are you mad? A girl can never have enough clothes!" cried Jennifer, as she eyed "Victoria's Secret" eagerly.

Lily dragged her two meager bags. "Come on, Jen, I'm not exactly the richest person in the world. You're not spending all my money, you know."

"I can lend you some," offered James in a small voice. 

Lily shot him a nasty look. "I don't need your charity, thank you very much, Potter."

"It's not charity, I'm always willing to help a fr—" James stopped talking and put his hand to his mouth, horrified at what he had just said.

"Help a _what_, exactly?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"Er—never mind," he said quickly.

Lily shrugged. "Fine then. Wow"—she looked around the mall in a daze—"I can't believe we're actually in our fourth year now. I mean, time sure flew."

"Yeah…" said Jennifer dreamily. "I met the only boy I'll ever love in my whole life at Hogwarts." She smiled at Remus, who flushed bright red.

James sighed. _If only I will find my true love at Hogwarts like my friends. _

"What's wrong, James?" asked Remus, concerned.

"Oh…it's just that I wish I could find my true love here at Hogwarts, Remie. I mean, you and Jen did, as well as Arabella and Sirius and Violet and Peter. But what about Lily and I? I mean, Evans will definitely find her soul mate; every guy's after her. Me, however—everyone's afraid of us Potters, because of what we are. Many a Dark wizard has been after our family for generations, so hopefully there aren't any Dark wizards around nowadays."

"I heard about one, though he's not very strong," said Remus. "He fashioned some stupid name called 'Lord Voldemort', and wishes everyone to be afraid to speak the name. Quite stupid, actually. But he has a few followers, though not many. I heard that he's killed a few wizards and Muggles, but not enough to attract the attention of the _Daily Prophet_. Still…he may turn into something bad, but I doubt it."

"I sure hope not," said James, shuddering. "Then my parents would be deeply involved, since they're top Aurors, and there's a likelihood that they may…die because of it." He gulped.

Lily's heart suddenly softened for the enemy. She knew that it would be hard on James if his parents died—she would sure mourn if her parents died fighting some evil wizard. Suddenly, she wondered if that was the Dark wizard that killed her and James in their dreams. But Remus had said that this Voldemort didn't sound too serious—

"WHAT THE HELL!" screamed James suddenly. The whole mall became quiet, surveying the scene with interest and horror.

"Potter, what are you screaming about?" asked Lily, annoyed. "Really, in broad daylight, you should be keeping your language decent."

"Sirius and Arabella are **gone**, is what I'm screaming about!" shrieked James. 

Lily shrugged. "Probably snogging in some broom closet, who knows."

"No, I mean really, they're gone. Some guy at the speaker said that two children have been kidnapped, and that it was a boy and a girl. The boy had long, black hair and the girl had brown curls, and both looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. And since we haven't seen them both anywhere earlier, I think that we can conclude that they've been kidnapped by some mad Muggle!" 

Lily felt that her heart had been chilled. _What will the Blacks and Figgs do to me when they find out that Muggles kidnapped their children? _She tried not to panic at the moment, though it was extremely difficult not to.

"What do we do now?" asked Jennifer nervously. "Oh, Lily, we should ask the guy from the speaker…"

"Yes," said Lily distantly, and without thinking, she dragged the three of them along. They spotted Violet and Peter, who both looked very white, and went in search of the man on the speaker. They found him at the highest tower of the building, and begged him to tell them details.

"Well," he said, scratching the back of his head, "those two young ones were chatting and kissing and whatever crazed teenagers do, and all of a sudden, these three cloaked figures take them away. I don't know why they did so, and I told them to stop in the name of the law, but they wouldn't listen. So I called all of y'alls over the speaker to see if you knew those two teenagers." He had a Texas accent, smooth and carefree.

"They're our friends," said Lily desperately. "Do you, by any chance, know where they were taken?"

"Kidnappers took them straight out of the entrance, miss."

"Thank you, sir. We'll be looking for them."

"Why"—the man looked surprised—"aren't you going to call the police, little lady? Surely a bunch of you teenagers can't handle a kidnap crime like this. May I suggest—"

"Sir, I can assure you that we can handle it," said Lily firmly. The man argued no further and pointed them out the entrance.

"Good luck!" he called after their retreating figures.

-

"This is all my fault," moaned Lily, as the six of them ran after the black-cloaked figures that held a screaming Arabella and Sirius.

"Lily, it's all right, we'll get them," said Jennifer, panting, as she sprinted down the sidewalk, trying to catch up with Lily.

"STOP!" she screamed at the figures ahead. "Stop, I tell you! I'm armed!"

The figures pointedly ignored her shouts and entered a small forest just in back of a house. Lily, James, and the others followed, clue-less to what would happen to their friends and who the three mysterious figures were. Finally, the figures stopped running and clutched a now silent Arabella and Sirius to the six teenagers.

"Potter," one of them muttered. Its voice sounded oddly like—

"Malfoy!" hissed James, stepping forward. "Lucius Malfoy! What are you doing to my friends?"

"Dear me, Potter, there is no need to jump into conclusions," came the silky voice of Malfoy. "All we ask for is a bargain."

James raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "What kind of bargain?"

Malfoy grinned. "We'll give you back your little—er—friends, if you're willing to sacrifice someone from your little circle."

"What?" exclaimed James, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You can have your friends back if you give yourself up, Potter."

There was an eerie silence following Malfoy's silky voice. No one spoke a word; instead, everyone looked at James' pale face. Lily was twisting her hands nervously, regretting the fact that she's ever hated Potter before.

"Fine," came the final reply.

Sirius managed to twist himself loose from the second black-cloaked figure. "James—no!" he cried. "It's all a trick…they work for the Dark Side!"

James turned sharply to Malfoy. "Is this right, Malfoy? You're doing this for the Dark Side?"

"Our Master wants you, Potter, seeing that you're the youngest and strongest Heir in your whole family."

"Heir?" echoed Lily, stepping forward, too. "What Heir?"

Malfoy sneered at Lily. "Ah, Mudblood, perhaps you don't know your boyfriend's little…let's say, secret?"

"Secret?"

He laughed. "The Potters are the last Heirs of Gryffindor, Mudblood. Soon after our Master slaughters the whole Potter clan, he'll want the last and strongest Potter of them all—dear J.H. Potter, here." 

James reddened. "Look, I don't know what the heck you're talking about, but I have to warn you that—"

"Careful, Potter, my Master does not like outspoken little boys."

"All right, who is this 'Master' of yours, huh? Let me ask you something, _Lucius. _No sane person has a master. And I don't know why you idiots want me! So, please elaborate on your stupid doings."

Malfoy's eyes flashed. "For your information, Potter, you're insulting my Master. Who is my Master, you ask? Why, none other than the Dark Lord himself, of course! Dear, dear, and you do have a lot of that foolish Gryffindor boldness to ask and belittle my Master. Have you ever heard of Lord Voldemort?"

James glared at him. "Of course I have. He's the nutter that believes everyone's afraid of speaking his name—Voldemort. Ha! What's so scary about _that _name?"

"You know, Potter, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," came a new voice. The second cloaked figure pushed down his hood, revealing none other than Severus Snape.

"Snape? What are you doing here?" snapped James, surprised.

"Why, teaming up with Lucius and Evan here, of course," replied Snape, smirking. "Surely you don't expect me to miss out on all the fun, do you?" He glanced around at everyone, until his eyes rested on Lily's. Then he did a double take and stared at her.

"Lily?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, Snape, this happens to be my hometown, you know. I live here, you dodo!"

"Then why is Potter and his gang here with you?"

"Well, I've invited them over my house for the summer, Severus."

Snape glared at James jealously. "So—you've got yourself another girlfriend, eh, Potter? Tired of all the rest?"

"Why you little—" snarled James, but Rosier cut them off.

"Really, Severus, I expected better of you!" he chided. "Arguing with Potter about some stupid Mudblood. Come, we have to do our job."

James suddenly stepped right in front of the three Slytherins and hissed, "Don't any of you _dare _call Lily a Mudblood again. You Slytherins are a disgrace to the name of wizard."

Rosier snorted. "Get away from us, Potter, you're giving us your Gryffindor germs." All three of them laughed menacingly.

"Dear, dear, Lucius, Severus, Evan, I expected you to hand me over the Potter boy already," hissed a soft voice from behind the trees. James jumped.

"Of course, Master," they murmured, seizing James and pulling him to where the voice came from. Arabella and Sirius were abandoned now.

"James Potter," said the voice, "I have **so **wanted to meet you. After all, Heirs should meet each other, should they not?"

"I don't know who you are," said James loudly, "but I'm ready to call all the Aurors at the Ministry here to throw you into Azkaban. Who are you, you nutter?"

The figure behind the trees tensed. "Ah, just like the rest of your family, Potter. Boisterous and rude to anyone who is of lower rank. Really, James, I did expect better from the most powerful wizard alive in our world today."

Silence followed. James spluttered, "I'm—I'm what?"

"You're the Heir of Gryffindor," said the voice coolly. "Heirs are the most powerful wizards, but the Heir of Gryffindor is most powerful. But, of course, the prophecy can be wrong. After all, I don't see how powerful a scrawny thing like you are. But I can prove how powerful _I _am. After all, no one's afraid to speak your name out loud, Potter. However, they are frightened to speak mine." He grinned widely. "I am the most powerful wizard in the world—the last Heir of Slytherin, Lord Voldemort."

"Ha! You're Voldemort, is it?" asked James mockingly. Voldemort tensed at being called by his name.

"A bold thing, aren't you? Well, I expect more manners from you, boy. My name is not _Voldemort_ when spoken out of your mouth, it's 'sir' or 'my Lord'."

"Oh really? And who are you supposed to be, chiding my manners—my father?"

Lily suddenly felt an air of gloom and danger around Voldemort. She ran towards James and grabbed his arm. "Please, James, don't anger him."

James pried her off him gently. "Don't worry, Lily, he's just some stupid fraud," he whispered.

"Ah…if it isn't your little Mudblood girlfriend, Potter," sneered Voldemort. "I suppose you would die for her?"

James glanced at a tear-streaked Lily and glared boldly at Voldemort again. "You know, I still don't know what you want with me."

"Why"—Voldemort's red eyes widened in surprise—"I want you to join me, of course, my dear lad."

"Join you?"

"Join me, my boy, and we'll do great things together."

James narrowed his eyes. "If you're asking me to join the Dark Side, then my answer is NO. I'd never become evil, when my family and friends could be at stake."

Voldemort paled. "You'll regret this decision someday, Potter," he spat. "I'll do anything I can to not have you go against me, including killing the ones who are preventing you from joining me." With a whisk of his cloak, he and the Slytherins were gone.

Everyone stood there in stunned silence. Lily felt extremely uncomfortable. So this is how she and James was going to die! Killed by a nutter wizard! James, however, was nervous about what Voldemort had said: _I'll do anything I can to not have go against me. _What did he mean by 'anything'?

Arabella's crying broke the silence. "Oh, Lily, James, I'm so sorry that Sirius and I ran off! If we stayed together…" She trailed off, sobbing.

Lily went to put her arms around her best friend. "It isn't your fault, Bella. I mean, that Voldemort could have easier taken any of us without the others knowing. Don't cry, please."

James shook his head. "No, it's my fault. It's all my fault." He looked at everyone. "Yes, I am the Heir of Gryffindor, and ever since I was born, I had magical powers that normal wizards could never obtain: wand-less magic, the ability to learn and know magic easily without having to study too much." He looked straight at Lily when he said this.

"That's why Voldemort is after me. He wants me to join his Dark Side, so that I can help him revive the Dark Order again, because of my powers. But I'll never join the Dark Side. It's only for wizards and witches who are too cowardly to not become evil."

Lily clutched his hand in comfort. "Come on, let's go home."

***

"This is a beautiful sunset," murmured Lily, smiling, as she stroked her golden retriever's fur. Goldie looked at her imploringly and put her face in Lily's hands.

"Lils?" She turned around to see James smiling nervously at her. "Can I join you?"

"If you have no one to snog with, then sure," joked Lily, looking over at her friends, who were all snogging…even Violet and Peter.

"Does that mean I can't snog with you?" he asked teasingly, seating himself next to Goldie. 

"Nope. If you came here to snog, I suggest you go find Petunia's friends. Poor Petty had a hard time yesterday convincing her friends to hate you, but it was no use; they're totally in love with you now." Her voice sounded oddly bitter.

James smiled. "Is our ickle Flower jealous?"

"No!" cried Lily, a bit too quickly. "Why would you say that?"

"Lily, Lily, Lily." James shook his head. "How would you like—to become friends?"

Lily looked at him, surprised. "Well, we're not ready yet now, I know, but when the time comes, we'll be the best of friends—besides with Arabella and Sirius, of course." She referred to their best friends hastily.

"Good. We don't…hate each other like we used to back in our first and second year, do we?"

"Of course not. We're just on speaking terms at the moment. But—James, I think we can be friends someday. Just not now."

"Can we at least call each other by our first names occasionally instead of never?"

Lily snorted. "What kind of a question is that? We already do!"

"Oh, do we? Because it's been more than one hundred occasions when you've called me 'Potter' with a vengeance."

"Well, Mr. Potter, if we stop playing pranks on each other, perhaps we can reach to some sort of agreement."

James looked horrified. "Impossible!"

"Then we'll be calling each other 'Potter' and 'Evans' for the rest of our lives, then. I thought you didn't want that."

"I _don't._"

Lily sighed. "Then perhaps a truce? Not to be pure enemies again?" She held out her hand, and James shook it.

"Truce."

"Why," came the incredulous voice of Sirius, "is this Lily Evans and James Potter shaking hands, agreeing to be friends, or at least on speaking terms? Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed an extraordinary event here!"

James grinned. "Oh, shove it, Siri-boy."

"And what's this? James Potter becoming playful and Lily Evans not retaliating? Oh, ladies, perhaps the James you've all been fighting for has only eyes for Lily Flower!"

Lily looked at Sirius with amusement. "Oh, really Sirius?"

"Wait—what's this? Lily Potter hasn't said anything to make the famous lady-killer, Sirius Black shut up. Five…four…three…two…one…"

"SIRIUS BLACK, I AM NOT LILY POTTER AND WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!"

"There we have it, ladies and gentlemen," said Sirius in a smaller voice. "Lily Potter screaming at innocent bystanders, who only have witnessed she and James bonding together under the sunset…how romantic…"

Arabella walked over to her boyfriend and cuddled against him. "Really, Sirius, I think this is enough teasing for one day. It's getting late, we should be getting to bed."

"And look at this, ladies and gentlemen! Sirius Black's very own gorgeous girlfriend, Ms. Arabella Figg is telling him to quit it for the night. All right, I will be seeing you tomorrow, folks, do not fret!"

Arabella shook her head and giggled as the friends headed back into the house. "Oh, Sirius, now I know why everyone loved the Quidditch commentaries when you did them in our first year."

"Hey!" cried Remus, who was walking with Jennifer behind them. "I resent that!"

She laughed. "Oh, Remie, it's not that you're bad or anything, it's just that, well, it's a bit dull when you do it. You sound like Professor Binns when you say the commentary and not as enthusiastic or funny like when Sirius does it. Put in more life when you do it for the first match of the season this year."

Remus shrugged. "I don't like exhibiting my weirdness in public, unlike Sirius."

James laughed, and Sirius pretended to look hurt. Arabella shook her head once more and dragged a pouting Sirius inside.

James was lingering around until it was Lily's turn to go inside. He pulled her back and said, "Look, I never really appreciated your hospitality this summer by inviting me over your house and stuff. I just wanted to say"—he took a deep breath—"that I'm sorry about the mean things I've said before, because I really didn't truly mean them. Forgive?"

Lily stared at his sudden outburst, open-mouthed, but then smiled. "Of course. Apology accepted. And I never did thank you properly myself when you invited me over your house last summer."

James smiled at Lily and kissed her hand. "You already did by inviting me over this summer."

She thought for a moment, pondering on his meaning. "Well…I suppose that's right."

"Hopefully we won't have another dream tonight," said James, sighing. 

Lily grinned. "Actually, I like having those dreams. It gives us more insight on our future together."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, I never knew perfect Evans could actually be sentimental!"

Lily slapped him playfully. "What about our truce?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about it! I guess I'm so used to hating you that I forgot about that speaking-term truce we made. Oh well."

"Huh! So says you. I guess we'll have to call off the truce."

"What? No way! We worked _very _hard on promising to be on speaking-terms."

Lily snorted. "You got that right. Though sometimes I still long to through a tirade at you."

"Meanie!"

"Please Po—James, you sound like a four-year-old!"

"Maybe because I am a four-year-old!"

"Then why are you going to Hogwarts and scoring better than even _me _in Transfiguration?"

"Oh…it's because I'm so smart that Dumbledore accepted me at the age of four."

Lily grinned and shook her head. They went inside, still thinking about their separate thoughts.

As James entered the room that he was sharing with the rest of the Marauders, Sirius bombarded him with questions about what happened between him and Lily outside. James shook his head, clearly wondering if his best friend had lost his mind.

"I'm telling you, Siri, nothing happened between us!" he said crossly. "I just went to thank Lily for having me over the summer, knowing how much we—er—don't get along at school."

Sirius snorted at the understatement. 

Remus smiled gently at his friend. "I'm glad that you and Lily came up with a truce, James. I was getting a bit impatient myself about how much you guys fight. The next step will be friendship and then perhaps…love."

"Oh, Remie, not you too," sighed James.

"What? I was only commenting. I don't matchmake people like Sirius does here—and have it end up a disaster."

"Hey!" Sirius pouted.

"Guys, keep it down, Peter's asleep," hissed James.

"Oh…whoops, sorry, Jamie-boy."

As they turned off the lights, James lay in his bed, thinking. What was to become of him after Hogwarts? He was entering his fourth year at Hogwarts already. He knew that he was going to become an Auror; all Potters did. What about that threat that Voldemort had given him about the consequences of not joining the Dark Side? Would he have to give up everything, including the ones he loved, to protect himself, as the strongest Heir out of the four? He fell asleep quickly, the thoughts still swimming in his mind.

__

"Love is more powerful than any other type of emotion – it could even prevent death, if you love that person enough."

-

Meanwhile, in the girls' room, they were all pushing Lily to tell them what happened between her and James.

"Really, Belle, for the last time, nothing happened!" exclaimed Lily, crawling into bed, for she was exhausted.

"All right, Lils, but still…"

"I can't believe you came up with a truce with James!" added Jennifer. "How did you guys do it? You despise each other!"

"Well, Jen, we're on speaking terms now," replied Lily, smiling.

"Well, this is a different love story!" cried Arabella, sitting up in her bed. "Lily Evans Potter and James Potter have hated each other for many of their years at Hogwarts, but became hesitant friends by their fifth year. Bounded by her beauty and his charms, they both fell in love and married straight out of Hogwarts. Tragically, however, the Dark Side began to gain power and a Dark wizard murdered Lily and James Potter. On the happier note, their son, Harry James Potter, lived and became famous and was a hero. The end!" She grinned down at her friend's hanging mouth. "Oh, it's so romantic! Just like Romeo and Juliet!"

"Bella! What a horrible thing to say—dying isn't romantic!" snapped Violet.

"Oh, Vi, don't be so touchy, I was only joking." Arabella looked worried. "I haven't offended you, have I, Lils?"

Lily shook her head. "Nah, I'm just thinking. Well, we'd better turn off the lights, tomorrow we go to Diagon Alley to get our school supplies, and we have to start packing, too. It's only a couple of days until September 1st!"

Everyone groaned, except for Lily. She loved Hogwarts, even more than her home. But as a grumbling Arabella turned off the lights, she had a sudden thought. What would become of her after Hogwarts? She knew she'd probably marry James, for some reason she didn't know yet, but what would she do? Lily pondered on it for a couple of seconds, running over various magical jobs she could get. Staying at home was definitely not an option for Lily. She wanted equal rights for witches as well as for wizards, and staying at home would be abusing that equal right. If James was to become an Auror—then she'd have to stay home in order to take care of Harry. Lily sighed, thinking gloomily of the thoughts, but brightened again. She could raise Harry…teach him to read…teach him all his firsts! Then staying home didn't seem so bad any longer! But then she remembered Voldemort's threat to James. Too tired to think any longer, Lily fell asleep, still dreaming of the future and what lay ahead for the future Potter.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Harry Potter—only some of the strange character names I came up with such as Jennifer Dean, Violet Walker, Professors Wickham and Hurst, various Quidditch player names such as George Brach (see First Year – Part One), Narcissa Malfoy's maiden name, etc.

A/N: Oh, I know you all love me! You know why? Because I updated two – or three – days later! Oh, I know you all love me now *grin* 

In reply to: Mooky's review

Well, Mooky, I really haven't thought of why Lily and James still remember their dreams when they wake up or why they have the same dreams. *thinks* Oh, all right then. Lily and James can both remember their dreams because, as you may have read in the third chapter that they both had a special bond that even death could not destroy. So that's why they have more powers. And that's also the reason why they have the same dreams often (not always, though): because their bond is more special than most people's bonds, since it's stronger than even love. Oh, and you told me to have some sort of adventure or something to spice up the story. Well, I did add a bit of that with the Voldemort and Slytherin scene, though I can be oddly non-creative. Yeah…I know that it's sad to have someone die that's close to Lily or James, but I must add it in, maybe in fifth or sixth year, I'm not sure. Lily's parents will die, but it won't be mentioned in the story, but the slaughter of James' whole entire family has to be mentioned, because of what Voldemort had said about killing the ones he loved. Because nearly all of their families were killed, besides the Dursleys (Grr…), because then Harry would have lived with another relative. So…yeah. But I won't make it depressing, don't worry! I hate depressing stories, too!

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Oh, and a special note to all: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! They mean so much to me, they really do! Thanks again! *smile*


	13. Fourth Year: Part One

Fourth Year – Part One

"Now, Lily, you know we made that truce," said James, pouting, as he dragged his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express.

"So?" Lily heaved her trunk up and started to drag it across compartments, looking for an empty one.

"So we're supposed to be at least on civil speaking terms," explained James slowly.

"What's your point, Pot—James?" Lily still found it a bit difficult to call James by his given name.

"You're not exactly acting 'civil' to me here, Lily."

"I'm not? I'm calling you by your first name, and I'm not throwing hexes at you. What more do you want?"

"Oh, but we shared such _tender _moments for the last few weeks. So…perhaps friends?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

"There you go again!" cried James. "I'm _James_, not Potter."

"Whatever. Now, where is Bella? She's gone off with Sirius to snog, no doubt. Maybe one day they can actually kiss normally, not snog passionately, touching each other at inappropriate places." Lily shuddered.

"Oh, but aren't us boys perverts, Lily?" teased James, grinning. "You said so yourself yesterday, when Sirius suggested to Bella that they should get some time alone in the same room."

"Well, Mum was definitely going to faint when she heard that," said Lily, chuckling. "Went completely white and fled to her room. Petunia wasn't so—er—calm about it either."

"Considering that she jumped up and started calling us idiots, morons, freaks, and perverted people who only think of the 's' word."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Lily sighed. "Well, we'd better find a compartment soon, or else—"

She stopped immediately, staring across at the people sitting in the compartment that they were currently in.

James squinted and saw that it was Remus laughing and joking with an unknown girl. The girl kissed him and smiled happily, but they both froze at the sight of Lily and James staring at them.

"Lily, James, it isn't what it looks like," begged Remus, his eyes wide.

Lily snapped out of her trance. "You know, Remus, I thought you were the decent sort, but I thought wrong. How can you do this to Jennifer? I thought she meant a lot to you, considering how much you guys cuddled over the summer. You guys were just snogging this morning at breakfast."

"I—"

"Remus, you're cheating on Jennifer for—her?" James looked at the girl next to him in disgust.

The girl jumped, looking frightened. "I—I didn't know Remus had a g-girlfriend," she stuttered. Her pale fingers twisted loose strands of curls on her forehead, and her dark gray eyes were wide. "Really—honestly—"

Lily's eyes softened. "All right, we won't tell Jennifer, but you'd better have a good excuse for her, Remus, since she's probably wondering where you are right now."

Remus glanced at the girl and sighed. "Listen, Tara, I'll see you later, all right? I'm going to go find my friends."

"And girlfriend," added James, still scowling at the small girl. They left the compartment, leaving Tara alone.

"Who's Tara and _why _were you two cuddling?" asked Lily snappishly as they went in search of the rest of their friends.

"Tara's my neighbor," said Remus calmly, "and we're really good friends, soon to become cousins, since my only unmarried aunt is getting married to her widowed father."

"Well, cousins can date too, you know," said James grumpily. 

Remus laughed. "We're not _dating_, you goof. She's going to be my cousin! Relatives don't marry each other. Besides, she's like a sister to me, since my only one died when I was nine." His eyes became cloudy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Remus!" exclaimed Lily, enveloping him in a hug. "I never knew that you had a sister, and I'm really sorry for jumping into conclusions too fast. I guess I'm just overprotective about my friends."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," mumbled James. 

"Remus!" They turned around to see Jennifer running towards them anxiously. Her thick blond hair was loose all over her face, as her blue eyes scanned them. "Oh, James, Lily, where were you guys?"

The trio glanced at each other. "We were just looking for you. Remus came along after he found us pass him."

Jennifer glanced at Remus suspiciously. "And you were looking for me for this long? It doesn't take half an hour to search the train!"

"I was talking to my cousin, Tara, about Hogwarts," said Remus quickly. "She's starting her first year, you know."

"Tara Jettison? Isn't she your neighbor, Remus?"

"Well, she's going to be my cousin soon, since my aunt is marrying her father. It'll just be like having a sister again."

Jennifer bit her lip, shuddering. Remus had told her about sweet Sarah Lupin, who had been a year younger than him, and how she suddenly disappeared when he was only nine. Now five years has passed, and Remus assumed her as dead.

"I'm sorry if I reminded you about Sarah, Remus," she said quietly, kissing him on the cheek. "I was just—worried. You know me."

"Yeah," said Remus sadly, his eyes casting a faraway look. "It's all right, I just—I just loved Sarah so much before she…died." 

"Remus, just let it out," said Lily softly.

"I'm not going to cry," he said hastily, rubbing his eyes and making sure there weren't any tears. "I just miss her, that's all. I'm not sad about her dying; I'm just really lonely sometimes without her company. Tara's like Sarah all over again, and it gives me a lot of comfort to feel her presence. I'm not cheating on you, Jen, like a certain redhead and black-head seemed to think."

Jennifer laughed, while Lily and James both turned equal shades of red, scowling.

"Humph! Where were you guys?" It was Arabella, and behind her was Sirius, and both had on a worried expression.

"We thought you guys had missed the train or something!" she exclaimed wildly. "Thanks for worrying us so much."

"Where's Violet and Peter?" asked Lily immediately, suddenly remembering her other two friends.

"They're in our compartment right now. Honestly, Lily, at least you should've had enough sense to look for us! Where we all of you? Jen, I told you not to go gallivanting off to find your beloved Remus. Well, now that you guys found each other, why didn't you go and find us? We weren't so important, huh? _Huh?_"

"Bella, stop hyperventilating," said Sirius good-humoredly. "Now that we found them, let's all go back to our compartment. Those four were probably out having a double-snog date or something."

"I wouldn't be talking, Sirius," snapped James, as they all headed off to the compartment. "You and Bella were probably off doing the same thing. Poor Violet and Peter."

"Well, they were getting pretty passionate too, you know," argued Sirius, while the rest laughed. "What?"

"Violet's too sensible and Peter's too shy to get involved in something like snogging," said Lily, grinning.

"Yeah? Well, they were holding hands!"

"How passionate," said Jennifer dryly, while Arabella sniggered.

"Actually, they weren't very passionate, but they still sort of like each other. I heard that Dumbledore's hosting a ball next year!"

"How exciting," said Lily sarcastically. "We get to wear pretty dress robes and be all caked with makeup! I'm so excited!"

"Aww…Lils, just go with James if Snape asks you," said Jennifer, grinning.

"WHAT?"

"Oh, come on Lils, it's not like James will have a date by then, anyway. Besides, it's next year, what are you fretting about?"

"Hey!" cried James. "I can _too _get a date!"

"You turn girls down when they ask you to a date to Hogsmeade," said Arabella coolly. "I suppose that's your proof that you can get a date. You turn down everyone, for heaven's sake! When can you not turn down a girl and just take her?"

"Fine," huffed James. "I'll say 'yes' to the first girl who asks me to a date, whether she's pretty or ugly or whatever."

"If you lose, you owe me a Galleon."

"Since when did we make this a bet?"

"Since now."

"Can we change the topic?" asked Lily loudly. 

"If you're getting bored, Lily, you can always join us," said a silky voice from behind. It was Snape and the rest of his gang, and they were grinning down at the six evilly.

"Get away from us, Snape!" snapped Lily. "Don't think I didn't forget out little incident this summer…"

"Oh, but why should you care, Lily? After all, it was only a threat to Potter, not you."

"They don't hate each other anymore, Snape, so of course Lily should care," said Sirius quickly. He wanted to see the priceless look on Snape's face.

"Y-you guys are friends?" he mumbled.

Lily shrugged. "Not necessarily friends, but on speaking terms."

"What's the difference?"

"We don't help each other out like friends would. Or actually _like _each other as friends do, for the matter. We're just civil to each other, then."

"Well, sooner or later, Evans, you'll regret your decision," spat Rosier, glaring. "One of these days, Evans, you'll wish that you had joined us, since the Dark Lord is gaining power from his followers." His eyes had an odd shine to it.

James raised his eyebrows. "Oh, _really_? That bozo, gain power? Ha, what a laugh!"

"James," snapped Peter nervously. "D-don't get them r-riled up like t-that."

"Is Pettigrew scared?" mocked Lestrange, stepping forward, smirking. "Really, Pettigrew, with a heart like yours…" He leaned forward and whispered quietly, so that only Peter could here, "…the Dark Lord may find it quite useful one of these days, since you're so close to Potter." 

Peter just gulped, looking frightened. _(A/N: Die, Peter! I'm _glad _that he's scared!)_

Arabella glared down at the Slytherins. "Look, you slimy gits either state why you're here, or **leave**—simple as that. Surely Slytherins aren't that thick to understand what I just said, are they?"

Wilkes sneered down at her. "You Gryffindors are so cocky over yourselves, thinking that you're so _perfect_. Well, soon you lot will be the first to go once the Dark Lord gets a hold of Hogwarts. Of course, the Mudbloods go first before anyone else does." He glanced at Lily.

Snape tensed and looked over at Lily, too. "Perhaps we should leave, Wilkes."

"Why, Snape? Scared of the Mudblood? I wouldn't be still mooning over her, since the Dark Lord will be ridding of her first."

"Y-you're right, of course," he stuttered. "But…let's leave Potter to his romantic moments again." He made an attempt to sneer.

"Ah, but of course." Malfoy then stepped forward, grinning maliciously. "Perhaps we shall show Potter some of our new powers that the Dark Lord gave us—and our new names."

"Which ones?" asked Jennifer scathingly. "Slimy gits, empty-headed, or 'I'm-So-Evil-That-Everyone-Thinks-I'm-Stupid'?"

The Marauders and the girls all laughed, while Jennifer smiled triumphantly at the stunned Slytherins.

"No half-Mudblood is going to insult us," snapped Rosier. "We fashion ourselves a name—Death Eaters, loyal to our Master."

"All right, this is such a waste of time. You—you Slytherins all go away! Now!" Lily was furious.

Snape's gang shot her a last nasty look, besides Snape, and ventured out the compartment sullenly.

"Way to go, Lils!" exclaimed Arabella. "I was wishing those gits would get out of here soon enough."

"It wasn't too hard," said James smoothly. "All you do is tell them to go away."

"We've already told them that three times, but Lily actually got them to go," retorted Bella.

Lily waved her arm aside. "Whatever. You two stop arguing, or else I'll—"

"You know, Lils," said Violet suddenly, coming out of her usual daze. "You're the one who's always arguing with James, so why are you telling Bella?"

"I—" Lily was about to give her a logical answer, but found out that she had none. "Oh, never mind."

"Ha, ha!" cried Jennifer gleefully. "The great Lily Potter has been thwarted by the logical Violet Walker! Priceless!"

"Oh, Jen." Lily sighed. "Will you ever grow up?"

"I doubt it. But I sure wouldn't want to be like you now, or else I'll end up a stiff old lady. You and Violet will probably end up like one of those old ladies who carry a large handbag around and wobble up and down the street, hoping to be killed."

Arabella snorted. Jennifer was too—_Jennifer_. It was quite sad how she becomes joyful one moment and cynical the next. Good thing Remus was there to calm her down and have her loosen up towards boys.

"Hey, Lily," said James suddenly, "I heard that you were going to be made a prefect next year."

"Oh?" Lily perked up. "And where did you hear this?"

"Dad told me."

"How would he know?"

"Because he works at the Ministry, and they make the list of Prefects for next year every year. He showed it to me when he saw your name."

"When did he show it to you? You were at my house the whole summer!"

"Oh—er—" James scratched his head. "Oh, it was—um—well, I forgot! Anyway, you're Prefect next year."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you. You're making this all up."

"Well, obviously. April Fool's!" he cried.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Er—James? It's September, not April."

The rest of the Marauders and the girls laughed, while Lily smirked triumphantly at James.

He was very much embarrassed. "Well…fine, I'll save it for April then!" He pouted.

"Well, well, well." They all turned around to see Amos Diggory sneering at them. "If it isn't the _dream _team, always having your ways with everyone at Hogwarts." He glanced over at Arabella, shaking his head and then at Lily, grinning. "Well, Lily, I see that you aren't steady with anyone yet. Care to go to the first Hogsmeade trip with me?" He extended his arm to her, but she didn't take it.

"I'm sorry, Amos," she replied frostily. "But I think it'll ruin my reputation by dating someone like _you. _Maybe next time I'll actually consider it for one more second."

Jennifer stifled a laugh, and Amos looked her way. Jennifer wasn't as popular as Lily and Arabella were to the male species at Hogwarts, but nevertheless, she was still attractive to most. She suddenly stopped laughing, seeing that Amos' gray eyes were fixed on her blue ones. "Yes?" she asked innocently.

"Maybe you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me," he said, flashing her one of his famous smiles that melted every girl's heart.

Jennifer reached out for Remus' hand, and said coolly, "Maybe I wouldn't. Don't you know? I already have someone that I love." She smiled at Remus lovingly, cuddling closer toward him.

Amos snorted in disgust. "How can you girls refuse someone like me? You three are the most popular girls at school, and yet you would rather date the Marauders than someone like Kevin Patil or me. Well, there's no one left except for that disgraceful, no good girl sitting over there next to loser Pettigrew."

Violet jumped, and her lip began to tremble. Her dark brown eyes flashed angrily at him. "You know what? You just think you're so Mr. I'm-So-Wonderful, but you're not! You're just a low-life rascal who plays with girls' hearts one by one until you've broken them all. Why should my friends or me date someone like you, then? Huh? That's a question that even Lily, James, or Sirius can't figure out, and they're the geniuses of Hogwarts! You just feel like you need to make fun of people like me. Well, you're not cool, Diggory. You're just a low-life jerk."

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Violet was more furious than they had ever seen her, even more furious when she stood against James or the Slytherins. Amos was surprised to see the quiet one of the girls so loud and outspoken. His lips curved into a smile.

"Not that quiet field mouse that you want people to assume about you, eh? I like feisty girls." He moved closer, but Violet pushed him back.

"Leave my friends and I _alone_, Diggory, or you'll get trouble from me." She drew out her wand and pointed it threateningly at Amos' chest.

Amos huffed and stalked out of the compartment without another word. There were a few more minutes of silence, but then the Marauders and the girls all cheered.

"You sure showed Diggory, Vi!" appraised Jennifer enthusiastically. "Now he'll probably never bother us again after what you did."

Violet flushed. "Do you really think so?"

"I _know _so."

"Knowing Diggory, he'd probably come crawling back to you girls again," said James pessimistically. "But the Marauders will protect you!"

"Oh, I feel so protected," said Lily sarcastically.

Before the both of them could start another argument, the lights on the Hogwarts Express started to flicker. Suddenly, everything went black, as the train slowed down.

"What's happening?" screamed Arabella. "Sirius? Where are you?"

"Right here, Bella," came a muffled voice on the other side of the compartment.

"Where?"

"_Here."_

"Where's here, you idiot?"

"QUIET!" yelled James. The eight of them became silent. 

The driver was speaking through the whole train. "Please remain calm everyone. I'm afraid there's been a shortage of powder, and the train's run out of fuel…" 

Everyone groaned, and Lily questioned, "Fuel? I didn't know you guys used fuel for transportation!"

From somewhere in a corner, James replied dryly, "Well, we don't use magic as the solution to everything, you know. When will you _learn, _Lily?"

"Yes, Mudblood, when _will _you learn?" A soft glow came, as a dark figure glided toward them. As the person lifted his hood, his face appeared—Voldemort.

"Oh, it's you," snapped James. "What do you want this time?"

"Why, don't be so impertinent, Mr. Heir," he mocked. "All I ask you is to join me. There are advantages to this. You and your little friends won't be harmed, as well as anyone connected to you won't be, either. Only my enemies shall be killed and tortured."

James narrowed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I am Lord Voldemort."

"So?"

"Master?" It was Snape and his gang standing at the doorway, looking shocked.

"Ah, Severus. How nice to see you again." 

"What do you want from my friend?" demanded Sirius angrily, glaring at Voldemort. "Leave him alone, or else I'll be dealing with you."

Voldemort raised his eyebrows. "I will leave now, Severus. But I will be back, Potter." He disappeared with a faint 'pop'!

***

A couple of weeks passed since the incident on the Hogwarts Express, and fourth year was in full swing. They all had more work than ever, and everyone, with the exception of Lily, were groaning and complaining over it all.

"It's really not that bad," said Lily enthusiastically, as the eight of them worked on a nasty Potions essay in the library one day. 

"Easy for you to say," said Arabella, staring blankly into _One Thousand Herbs and Fungi _and scribbling words onto her parchment. "You're at the top of the class next to James and Sirius. You're good at everything, Lils. Please respect the fact that not everyone is like you."

"Oh, sorry, Bella," apologized Lily sheepishly. 

A bang was heard as Sirius slammed the book shut impatiently. "That's it, I've had it! I can't stand this work any longer! I'll be off in the common room…"

"Snogging with a girl?" supplied Arabella coolly.

Sirius stared at her, and then grinned. "Aww…you know I'd never, Bells. Only with you."

"I've seen you look at that Lori Paterson from Ravenclaw quite a lot lately."

He tensed, but faked a smile. "I'd never, Bella."

She rolled her eyes. "Su-re. Whatever, I'm going to go back to work."

Sirius rushed out of the library eagerly. _A bit too eager, _thought Lily. _I sense that something not so good is going to happen soon._

Sure enough, the delightful scream of a girl echoed through the corridors, and Lily heard the laugh of Sirius along with it.

"What the hell is going on out there?" hissed Arabella. They all followed her out of the library just in time to see Sirius' lips on the one and only Lori Paterson's. 

Her eyes filled with tears. "SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius jumped and looked at his girlfriend, his eyes widening. "No, no, Bella, this isn't what it looks like."

"Oh, isn't it?" Her eyes flashed. "That's it, Sirius. We've broken up and gotten together again twice, but it isn't happening a third time." She glared at her friends to emphasize more. "It's over between us—forever. You can go snog as many girls as you want now, Sirius. You're free from the burdens of old Arabella Figg." She pushed through the couple and headed toward Gryffindor Tower.

Lily's eyes burned into Sirius'. "I can't believe you did that, Sirius. After all those intimate moments you've shared with my best friend…you risk her affection with your hormonal desires?" She shoved him to the ground roughly, glared at James, Remus, and Peter, as if to say, "You'd better watch it, too", and went after her friend. 

Lori looked awkwardly at the tense silence. "Sirius, you never told me you already had a girlfriend. I can't believe you did that to Arabella and I. She's a good girl, and you risked it just to snog with me? And now I've just found out that you 'had' a girlfriend. Well, Sirius, now you've lost both of us." She bit her lip and ran off to where the Ravenclaw common room was.

Finally, James spoke up. "That was low, Sirius. Real low."

"I know," his best friend sighed. "I don't know what I was thinking. Lily's right, my hormones are definitely taking the better of me. If I liked Arabella that much, then my hormones wouldn't have taken over. I feel so ashamed." He buried his face in his arms.

Remus looked at him sympathetically. "Don't worry, Sirius. Arabella will forget about this soon enough and you two will get back together again." But James saw doubt and worry in those gray eyes of his friend's, as he looked at Sirius comfortingly.

Sirius shook his head. "No, she'll never forgive me. Bella's right, I'm such an idiot, and I definitely don't deserve her. I may as well rot to the earth and die."

"She'll be over it." They turned around to see Jennifer speaking. Her eyes were red. "I know Bella. She'll forgive you, but it'll be a long time before she even thinks about it. Why did you do it, Sirius? Now you have two girls against you."

He shook his head. "I'm an idiot. Just—let me think this over, all right?"

Jennifer nodded, and leaned against Remus. "You can have all the time you need, Sirius. Because I have a feeling that it's going to take Bella quite a while to forgive you."

"But you said—"

"I said she'll forgive you eventually," she said quietly, "but just not soon."

Sirius sighed. "I deserved it."

Meanwhile, back in the fourth year's girls' dormitory, Lily was trying to comfort her friend.

"Arabella Figg, stop being so stubborn! I know what Sirius did was wrong, but you know he didn't mean it. If he could choose between a life of snogging and a life with you, he would definitely pick the latter. You know he lo—likes you to death."

Bella raised up her defiant face, but Lily could see traces of tears in them. "I don't care. He can have all the girls in this whole school for all I care. Maybe I shouldn't have chased away Amos." She sighed.

Lily stared at her. "You know you hate Diggory—and every other boy you've dated. Forget about them. You know Sirius needs you."

Arabella laughed bitterly. "Ha! If he needs me, then why did he go off and snog Lori Paterson? And lied to me about it?"

Lily stayed silent, not having an answer for her questions.

Suddenly, the dormitory door burst open, revealing the Marauders, followed by Jennifer and Violet. The girls quickly sat at their respected four-poster beds, while the boys shifted uncomfortably through the tension that was nearly visible in the air.

"Well?" snapped Arabella. "What do you four want?"

Sirius stepped up, gulping. "I-I wanted to say that I'm sorry," he stuttered nervously.

"Oh, really? Well, that's nice to hear. Now, go away and snog some girls; you're wasting my good afternoon."

"But—"

She stepped right in front of him, motioned the rest of the boys to follow, and said "Good day", before slamming the door in front of their faces.

"Sirius feels really bad about it, Bella," said Violet quietly, as Arabella returned, rather red-faced.

"I'm not really in the mood, Vi." Her voice sounded tired.

Lily sighed. Her best friend was feeling terrible about snapping at Sirius, but she knew that Bella only did it so Sirius couldn't hurt her anymore. Suddenly, out of the blue, her mind shifted to James, and how he's probably pondering the same thing at this very moment.

__

Why am I thinking about him? _He's only Potter, after all, _she thought.

-

Not much really happened for the next few weeks. The rest of the school had recovered from the shock when they first saw Lily and James acting civil to each other at breakfast. Hurst had nearly fallen off his chair at the staff table, while McGonagall had wiped her spectacles at least three times. Dumbledore, of course, smiled knowingly at the two speaking politely to each other, mildly amused by everyone's reactions.

"Why doesn't everyone just bloody stop staring at me?" grumbled Lily, as she sat down for breakfast a week later. "What is it with people these days?"

"Well, Lils," said Arabella, trying not to laugh, "you and James are acting civil and polite to each other. That's something that doesn't happen every day. I mean, usually you two just start arguing every time you see each other. It's not natural to see you two being nice to each other."

"Well, they'll have to get used to it, then," snapped Lily.

As if to make matters worse, James came trotting to them with Sirius behind him. "Hey Lily!" he said enthusiastically. 

"James," replied the redhead, nodding curtly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"You look so—down."

The flower sighed. "Ah, but don't I always? Nothing's going right these days." She looked over at Arabella and Sirius sitting at opposite ends, not making eye contact at all.

James saw too, and sighed wistfully. "Don't worry about it, Lily Flower. They'll get together; I know it. In the mean time, you shouldn't worry. I mean, we are still fourteen after all and a bit too young."

Lily looked amused. "Is this James Potter speaking? _I_'m usually the one who tells you that sort of stuff, while you just don't believe me and go snogging with a third year or something. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"I'm fine!" exclaimed James in exasperation. 

"Oh, all right then."

But before James could persuade Lily to make a decent and interesting topic of conversation, a scream was heard in the Great Hall. Apparently, Sirius had accidentally spilled a jug of pumpkin juice on Arabella, causing her to think he did it on purpose and slapped him. Remus coughed, hiding a smile, while Jennifer's eyes began to water as she tried not to laugh. James, however, could not restrain his amusement; he burst out laughing.

Bella looked positively livid and ready to strike. "Can you tell me what's so amusing, James Potter? Perhaps you need a good beating as well."

That shut James up very well.

"Oh, Bella, don't be hard on the boy," said Jennifer, trying not to smile. "After all, the Marauders are always like this, and you've never cared before."

"Well, I've now seen that Amos is right—the Marauders are a bunch of immature pricks who don't have any respect for anyone in this school."

"Amos?" questioned Lily, alarmed.

Arabella smiled. "Oh, Lily, I didn't tell you guys, did I? I apologized to Amos, and now we're together again. I guess I sort of misunderstood him last year. After all, the Marauders did influence me then."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Bella, does that mean that…you aren't friends with the Marauders any longer?"

"Friends?" Bella laughed, though it sounded quite different from her normal one. "When were we ever friends with _them_?"

"Bella, are you feeling all right? You dated one of the ringleaders, for goodness' sake! Are you daft?"

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about, Jennifer Dean, but I can assure you, I've never dated a Marauder in my life."

Jennifer gave Lily a bewildered look and whispered, "What the hell is wrong with this girl?"

Lily sighed. "I think she's in denial. Sirius snogging Lori went to her mind, I suppose, so she's trying to pretend that she's barely even spoken to the Marauders in her life."

"What? And she forgave Diggory? I think this has gone too far—"

"If she continues like this, then we'll think of something."

"Does she have to be so stubborn?"

On the other side of the table, Sirius was eating quietly, not even laughing at some joke that James occasionally told to him, Remus, and Peter. Even the teachers at the staff table knew that there was something wrong with Sirius lately. He was usually the bubbly and dashing teenager who had girls falling to his feet, but lately, he was quiet and reserved, that even his fan clubs were rather intimidated by his odd behavior. But James knew better. He knew that his best friend missed Arabella more than anyone or anything else, and that he was extremely guilty over being entranced by Lori Paterson's beauty and letting his hormones get the better of him.

He poked his best friend gently. "Sirius? You all right?"

Sirius shook his head. "I'm fine."

"You know, we have to work on our potion."

His eyes were disinterested. "Right. We have most of it done, right? We can finish by next year and have our forms ready."

"Aren't you excited? I mean, not everyone can turn into an animal at will, you know." James was desperate to get his friend into his energetic form again.

"Mmm. But how will we know it'll work?"

The black-haired boy decided to end the conversation, since he wasn't used to Sirius being so pessimistic and gloomy. He leaned forward to Arabella and whispered, "Can I talk to you?"

Bella's eyes flew up in surprise. "Why, why would such a popular boy talk to little old me?"

James raised his eyebrows. "Pardon?"

She shook her head. "I never did know that a Marauder would be so polite."

"Bella, are you all right?"

"She's in denial," hissed Lily, grabbing James. 

"Is she mad? She doesn't even know me!" James was indignant at not being known, especially by one of his closest friends.

"I told you, she's in denial. She's furious at Sirius, so she's ignoring the whole lot of you. Bella's pretending that she doesn't know you guys at all, except for the fact that you four are the most popular boys in the school."

"That's stupid," said James, looking rather put-off. "I mean, I haven't done a thing."

"Don't worry, she'll get over it, if that's what you're worrying about," assured Lily confidently. "People like her always do."

"Mmm-hmm…right. You know, I'm really worried about those two. They're not acting normal."

"James." Lily sighed. "I told you not to worry. Now, let's all enjoy ourselves, shall we?"

"Hey, Lils?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you go with me?"

"Where?"

"To the dance?"

"What dance?"

"The dance."

Lily sighed with frustration. "_What _dance?"

"Hello? Earth to Lily, little Miss Perfect? You know, the Halloween Ball coming up.

"Er—right. What did you want again?"

"Will you go with me?"

Lily thought for a moment, then smiled wickedly. "Sure. Then we'll really surprise everyone."

James laughed. "Oh, you'll have no idea."

Remus leaned over and whispered to his friend, "What's so funny?"

"Huh? Oh, me and Lily are going to the ball together."

"It's Lily and _I _are going to the ball together. And are you? Oh, wait 'till the whole school sees you to arm-to-arm! McGonagall will faint!"

"That'll be the laughingstock, won't it? And, oh"—James grinned—"what about Sirius and Arabella? They have to get together."

The tired boy smiled back at his friend. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Old-fashioned closet trick?"

"Definitely."

The two boys grinned mischievously and told their plan to the girls."

***

"James…geroff!" Lily breathed hard. "Get off!"

"Whoops, sorry Lils." James climbed off the redhead delicately. "You know, you look beautiful."

She smiled and blushed. "You look great, too. But I know you don't mean it when you said that I look beautiful."

James brushed back a lock of her curling red hair. "You're the most beautiful girl in this Great Hall right now, Lily."

Remus gave a hacking cough and James jumped back, flushing. "Perhaps you can get on with the plan, James."

"Oh—er—right." James fumbled with Sirius and Arabella's wands and handed them to Lily.

"Lily and James Potter!" Arabella shrieked from the nearby closet, causing several couples who were wandering around the deserted corridors to jump. "Get me out of here!"

"James, what do you think you're playing at?" shouted Sirius. "Sarah's waiting for me back in the Great Hall! She'll dump me if I'm found here!"

"So let her!" exclaimed James. "You don't like her. You like Bella, and you two have to make up tonight, or we won't let you out."

"Lily?" croaked Bella. "You don't mean that?"

"Oh yes, we do, Bells. Now, do you really like Amos? If you do, you have to say it in front of my face right now."

There was a silence, and Lily smiled in satisfaction. In fact, she was so engrossed in the whole plan that she hadn't noticed James staring at her the whole time. Her red hair was curled into beautiful ringlets, while she wore robes of a deep green that brought out the brightness and beauty of her startling green eyes. Her blood red lips were curved into a smile, and her eyes sparkled like emeralds. James quickly caught his breath at the sight of her.

James didn't look half-bad either. His untidy black hair was still where it was, since he had trouble managing it with every single hair gel and charm he could think of to make it neat. He was wearing robes of navy blue, while his sleeves were rolled up, revealing muscles that made most of the female population swoon and glare at Lily jealously as the couple had headed down to the Great Hall. 

Both of them had no idea what the other thought of them, so they plaintively ignored the fact, though they did steal glances at each other as they pressed their ears against the closet door. The rest of their friends watched them in amusement, for it was so obvious that they've never seen two people more in love than Lily and James, though the two stubborn teens would never admit it. Jennifer was itching to match up the both of them, though Remus had to tell her logically how it wouldn't work out at all, seeing that they were barely friends yet. 

"Wait until they're close friends, and then we'll move to the next step," he had said wisely. So Jennifer impatiently waited for her two friends to become friends with each other.

The six other friends finally gave up on Sirius and Arabella, since it was obvious that they weren't going to make up that night or the next day, so they unwillingly let out the two.

"That was a waste of a good evening," said Jennifer, sighing, as she watched Sirius and Arabella stomp off toward their dates without a single glance at each other. "It's hopeless, I'm starting to think."

"Don't say that, Jen," smothered Violet. "They'll become together when they're ready. In the mean time, let's all enjoy ourselves with what's left of the evening. After all, it's not over, you know."

"Would you care to dance, Lily Flower?" asked James, bowing, as he took Lily's hand politely. Lily graciously accepted and they waltzed away as the music drifted throughout the large room.

__

We were strangers

Starting out on a journey

Never dreaming

What we'd have to go through

Now here we are

I'm suddenly standing

At the beginning with you

No one told me

I was going to find you

Unexpected

What you did to my heart

When I lost hope

You were there to remind me

This the start

Life is a road

And I want to keep going

Love is a river

And I wanna keep flowing

Life is a road

Now and forever

Wonderful journey

I'll be there

When the world stops turning

I'll be there 

When the storm is through

At the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning with you

We were strangers

On a crazy adventure

Never dreaming 

How our dreams would come true

Now here we stand unafraid of the future

At the beginning with you

Life is a road and I wanna keep going

Loves is a river and I wanna keep going on

Starting out on a journey

Life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river and I wanna keep flowing

In the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning…with you

Lily and James swayed peacefully to the music as it played softly. As it died away, applause was heard, and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" played. 

Afterthe ball, everyone agreed that it was very exciting and groaned over classes the next day. Lily and James linked arms as they joined the other Gryffindors in the common room to party until midnight.

"That was great," said Jennifer, smiling dreamily as she flopped onto a sofa in the common room.

"Why? You and Remus snogged?" teased Lily.

"Nah. It was just great. Oh, and you and James were getting pretty cozy there yourself. You guys are really meant for each other, but still can't see it yet. I don't know how much it takes to make you see it yourselves."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, the song that you guys danced to—it said a lot about you. You and James have been through a lot together, and you've found each other. All you have to do now is realize the fact that you're in love with him and vice versa, so you guys can get married and have Harry." Jennifer winked. "Though Harry should be born when you're in your mid-twenties, Lils, I mean, I think you're a little too young if it was earlier…"

"Jen!" exclaimed Lily, blushing. "Don't say those things!"

"Sorry, Lils, but I had to warn you."

Lily shook her head, smiling. The words of the song echoed in her head slowly, like a revolver.

__

We were strangers

Starting out on a journey

Never dreaming

What we'd have to go through

Now here we are

I'm suddenly standing

At the beginning with you 

Was it true what Jennifer had said? Lily looked around at James, who was casually dangling a foot in the air while talking to Sirius, Remus, and Peter about the upcoming Quidditch game, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. His untidy, jet-black hair fell onto his face and he brushed it off, his brown eyes locking onto mine. He grinned at me, blushing, and continued to discuss things with the rest of the Marauders with red cheeks. I smiled. Even though I couldn't see James more than a friend, I knew that I would someday, for he was just the person I ought to have to be with me forever.

- - - - -

A/N: All right, first off, I have to apologize big time for how long it took me to update. I'm so sorry that you guys had to wait for more than a month, and that this chapter might be boring, bad, or weird, but it was the best I could give you. I had major Writer's Block, and I had way too much homework that I had to work until 10:00 PM. But I promise to update sooner, since there's less than three more weeks of school! :D

Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed and commented, I really appreciate it! 


	14. Fourth Year: Part Two

Fourth Year – Part Two

It was a normal day in the Gryffindor common room. Or, at least normal for most people…except for the girls and the Marauders. They were busy with their own thoughts that Professor McGonagall's stack of homework was laid forgotten, even by Lily. In fact, the two people most absorbed in their thoughts were Lily and James.

__

I just don't get it, she thought, as she looked over at James. _Why do I keep thinking about James? Is this – love?"_

Arabella was falling asleep on her Potions homework and glanced at her best friend. "Hey, Lils! You all right? You look tired."

Lily glanced sideways at her. "Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit overwhelmed with McGonagall's homework, that's all."

Bella shook her head. She knew that Lily was easily lying, for she never really had trouble on any type of homework, even Transfiguration, her worst subject. So she tried another attempt to start a conversation again.

"So, what's with you and James?"

Lily turned to look at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you guys don't argue as much as before. And you're even nice to each other sometimes. That's not something we usually see every day."

"We made a truce to be civil to each other, remember?" Lily grinned. "It's working. The whole school's in a shock."

"Well, obviously. Even Dumbledore's a bit shocked, and he knows almost everything that goes on in this school."

"Well, that's great, Bella, but there's nothing 'with' James and I. We're civil to each other…is that so surprising?"

"For one thing, Lils, it is sort of unsettling not to hear you and James' voices on full volume in Gryffindor Tower every day."

Lily laughed. "Oh, it's become that much of a routine, has it?"

Bella grinned back. "Oh, more than you'll ever know, Lils. Why don't you guys just kiss and, well, get married after Hogwarts, have Harry, and hopefully don't get the worst from life."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Bella, you already know that James and I are going to die. It's nice, isn't it? You're fourteen years old and you know that you marry your arch nemesis, have a kid, and then die."

Her best friend rolled her eyes. "The one thing you need to change, Lils, is your sarcasm. It's way too—you."

"That's what makes it special, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, James was absorbed in his thoughts as well and didn't even bother to listen to Sirius' lecture on their Animagi potion.

"Hello, earth to James!" shouted Sirius, nearly awakening half the common room, who were asleep on their textbooks and parchment.

"Huh?" James jumped. "Gee, what was that about, Sirius? Why'd you have to interrupt me?"

"Interrupt you from what?" Sirius grinned wildly. "Did you have a fantasy about Lily?"

The former choked. "What are you talking about? Of course not! I was just thinking about—er—my Animagi form."

Remus looked up with interest. He knew that James _was _thinking about Lily again, as it was obvious that he liked her, but this was an excuse that he couldn't miss hearing about. His soft gray eyes scrutinized his friend closely, which made James squirm even more.

Sirius bounced on the balls of his feet. "Well? Well? What animal d'you want to become? Huh? Huh?"

"Calm down, Sirius," said James, laughing. "I was thinking, maybe a deer…or a stag. Yeah, that's right, maybe a stag."

"A stag?" Sirius looked disappointed. "That's so boring, Jamie. A stag is so stuck-up and proud. But then again, so are you."

James glared at him. "Thanks a lot, Sirius."

"What I want to be is a dog. A big, fluffy one, preferably black with blue eyes. I'll be better than any old _deer_. Dogs are lovable and cuddly, and so am I." He smiled smugly.

Remus rolled his eyes and turned to Peter, who was quietly muttering potions under his breath. "What do you want to be, Pete?"

The little boy stared at the tall one with his watery blue eyes. "Um…I don't know. I mean, I'll probably be a small animal, since I'm not worth much."

James patted his little friend sympathetically. "Don't worry, Peter, you'll be a great animal. Maybe a cat, so you can help freeze the Whomping Willow."

__

(A/N: Stupid Peter! He doesn't deserve sympathy! After what he did to Lily and James…)

Suddenly, Jennifer ran into the common room, sobbing hysterically. Remus jumped to his feet and ran to her, but she pushed him away and flew into the girls' dormitory.

"Let's follow her," said Lily to a bewildered Arabella. They ran up to the fourth year girls' dormitory and saw Jennifer crying on her bed.

"Jen?" said Arabella gently. "What's wrong, dear?" She hugged her friend closely.

Jennifer looked up with large, teary blue eyes. "Malfoy—and Snape. They threatened me and told me that you were all going to d-die." She sobbed harder.

Lily looked around at Bella. "You don't think they found out about—you know."

Bella shook her head. "I don't think so. We'd never tell those slimy gits, but the Marauders…" She hesitated.

"I'm going to talk to them." Lily left the girls' dormitory and found the Marauders deep in conversation—something you didn't see every day.

"Hey," she called.

The four turned around and smiled at Lily. "Hey, Lils, what's up?"

"What's wrong with Jen?" queried Remus anxiously.

Lily looked grave. "She said that Malfoy and Snape said that we were all going to die."

Everyone was silent. How could Malfoy and Snape possibly know that Lily and James were going to die?

"Are you sure?" asked James hesitantly.

"Of course I'm sure!" Lily snapped back. "Would Jen ever lie?"

"Well, sorry, then," shot back James, his temper getting the better of him. "You don't have to be so defensive."

"Well, the situation is serious, Potter, so I need to keep you in line."

"What the—"

"The situation is me?" asked Sirius in surprise. "Why, I'm honored!"

Lily shot him a nasty glare. "Sirius, stop with the pun and shut up. This isn't funny! You Marauders—ugh!" She stormed out of Gryffindor Tower.

Arabella looked worriedly after her best friend. "Maybe you should follow her, James."

James, apparently, was still in a testy mood. "Why should I? You're Evans' best friend."

"Well, first of all, you two definitely need to sort out some priorities together, since you've been getting along so well these past months. Second, Lily obviously likes you, so you need to convince her more."

"What?" James was indignant. "She does **not **like me!"

"'Course she does," said Violet confidently. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not quite, Vi," admitted James.

"Vi," sighed Sirius. "You should have known. Only the two lovers are oblivious; everyone else knows."

"Knows _what_, exactly?" 

"James, just stop trying to understand and go find Lily!" cried Jennifer, wiping away a stray tear from her eyes. Remus put his arms around her comfortingly.

James rushed out of Gryffindor Tower and saw Lily crying right outside the portrait hole. 

"Lily?"

Lily sniffed, wiping tears away. "I'm sorry. But you Marauders—you guys think all of this is just fun! There's more to life than pranks and girls, you know."

James smiled and hugged Lily close to him. "Lils, I know you probably think we're all immature prats…but we really aren't. It's hard to believe I know"—he grinned at Lily's incredulous look—"and I guess we just want to lighten up the mood. I mean, it's not all that great when everyone's depressed, so we just like to make everyone laugh to feel better."

She smiled and snuggled closer to him, forgetting for a moment that she still didn't like him very well. "Thanks, James. I suppose I did get a little emotional, but it angers me to see people not taking things seriously."

James secretly enjoyed Lily hugging him, and had a whiff of her subtle perfume. She smelled of peaches and strawberries, and he buried his face into her hair.

"James!" Lily pushed back, her temper getting the better of her again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh—er—sorry," he bumbled, scrambling to his feet. "I was just—er—" However, James was saved just in time by Sirius, who ran right into him, since he was in such a hurry.

"Sirius—geroff!" mumbled James from the bottom, as Sirius continued to squash him.

"Oh, sorry Jamie-boy." He directed his attention to Lily. "You all right, Flower? Did ickle Jamsie make you mad?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Sirius," said Lily quickly, not looking at James. "I'm all right now."

"Good. Because if I hear you do anything to Lily"—Sirius waved an accusing finger at James—"you'll be sorry, Jamie."

James rolled his eyes and stood up. "Yeah, whatever, Sirius. C'mon, let's get inside before Filch and his stupid cat comes and accuses us again."

Sirius followed his best friend through the portrait hole, but Lily lingered behind, smiling slightly. 

__

Maybe James isn't so bad after all.

***

"And Gryffindor wins!" cried the commentator, who was a fifth year Gryffindor. "The score is one hundred fifty to twenty. Ooh, tough luck there, Slytherin."

Slytherins were heard jeering, while the rest of the school was cheering loudly, especially at James Potter. All the girls, except for the Slytherins, were swooning and fluttering their eyelashes as James flashed his famous "Potter smile" at everyone.

Lily, however, wasn't impressed. "Look at Potter," she sneered, "grinning like the idiot he is. I swear, he's even more self-centered than—than—"

"Sirius Black?" suggested Arabella, frowning. She was now hesitant friends with the Marauders, though she still loathed the said Sirius.

Lily shook her head. "Nah. Sirius is cool. Potter, though"—she shook her head darkly—"he's too egotistical than…let's say, Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Gil's nice," argued Bella. "Sirius is not. He's so deceiving, I swear."

"You're just mad because he snogged Lori Paterson a while back. You know, Bella, I do think it's time for you two to kiss and make up."

Arabella frowned darkly. "Lily, you know we've done that _twice _already. He's not getting a third chance."

"But—"

"NO!"

"Oh, fine. You needn't be so fierce, Bella."

"Huh! I should be fierce. What about you and James, Lily Evans? Or should I say, Lily Potter?"

"Arabella Black…"

"Lily Potter…"

Remus chuckled as the two best friends continued to bicker with each other, his arm swung casually over Jennifer's shoulders. 

His girlfriend grinned. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Remie, honey?"

"Hmm…Lily Potter and Arabella Black sound good?"

"Well, you're on the same track. We should get together Lily and James and Arabella and Sirius, so everyone will live happily ever after."

He laughed. "Oh, Jenny, that's almost impossible. We may as well let fate decide those four stubborn idiots' futures."

Jennifer smiled and kissed Remus fully on the lips. "Remus, I know we've always wanted that in the past. But I think it's time to do a little matchmaking ourselves, without the help of Lily and James."

Remus glanced questioningly at her, his face furrowing in confusion.

She grinned. "Well, usually, Lily and James are matchmaking other couples, right? Well, now we're going to do them a favor and bring together two couples. How does that sound?"

Her boyfriend sighed. "Oh, Jen, that's a fine idea, all right, but don't you think they should work this out themselves? I mean, we're not going to always be there for them when they get into a fight."

"I suppose you're right…like always."

"Of course I am." And he tackled Jennifer to the ground, both of them kissing passionately.

Arabella spotted her friend in a full snog-and-make-out session, and sighed. "There goes an obsessive couple all right."

Lily craned her neck to see Remus kissing Jennifer with love and passion. "Aww…they look so adorable."

"Disgusting is more like it, Lils. Look at them! They're literally eating each other."

"Bella, don't you remember how it was when you and Sirius were still together? You guys would snog and do—er—other stuff on the couches in the common room, in front of everyone."

"Don't mention _him, _Lily."

"Oh, get over it, Bella! It's time you two make up. I'm so sick of this stupid grudge you guys are forming against each other! Whenever I used to see you guys snog, I could see love in those eyes, Bella. You guys were head-over-heels with each other, and you still are. Why won't you admit it?"

"Because…" Arabella shook her head. "I know it's true, Lils. I'm just scared."

"Scared? Of what, Bella?"

"Of how vulnerable I'd be if I started dating Sirius again. I mean, you know he takes advantage of me. He snogs me, his girlfriend, and then he snogs another girl out of nowhere, right in front of my face! What kind of boyfriend is he? No, Lily, I'll never date him again, just to protect myself."

"Bella, I suppose you are right. But when Sirius realizes that you're the only girl for him, you'll be ready too, to make up with each other. In the mean time, you can enjoy snogging with Amos Diggory." Lily visibly cringed.

Arabella sighed. "I know you dislike Amos, Lily, but he's a nice guy, and he respects me. He even told me he loved me yesterday." She smiled dreamily.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Bells, but I can't believe the fact that Diggory is a 'nice' guy and 'respectful'. Besides, how can you get together with him so quickly when you were angry with him two months ago?"

"Oh, he said he's been waiting for me all this time. Isn't he such a romantic? Arabella Diggory…it sounds so _right, _doesn't it?"

Lily had to snort at that comment. Arabella Diggory was the worst possible name she had ever heard before, but Arabella Black sounded nice in her ears.

Suddenly, a stream of scarlet-clothed figures sweeping into the Quidditch field and congratulating the team members interrupted them. Girls were blushing furiously as they kissed Sirius and James' cheeks boldly, while boys thumped them on their back for congratulations.

"Humph. Look at Potter's smug face," sneered Lily, glaring. "He's such a prat—"

"What happened to your truce with James?" asked Arabella, amused. "I thought you guys were on speaking terms. And you went to the Halloween Ball with him."

"Yes, it was a very bad choice, wasn't it? But I was caught on that plan to get you and Sirius together that I didn't pay any attention to my sanity. Now I'm back to hating Potter again."

"Lily…"

"What?"

"Don't look now, but James Potter is walking your way with that smile of his."

Lily turned around, and sure enough, James was "strutting" toward her through the wave of supporters, grinning broadly.

"Hey, Lils," he said casually, swinging his scarlet arm across her shoulders.

If looks could kill, James would be dead and buried thirty feet deep.

"POTTER, GET YOUR STUPID ARM OFF ME!" shrieked Lily in outrage, slapping him in the process. "YOU PERVERT!"

James was shocked. "What did I do?"

Lily laughed bitterly. "Oh that's a good one—what did I do? Gee, Potter, how stupid can you get?"

"Potter? I thought we were on speaking terms."

"James Potter, you are the most egotistical prat in this whole wizarding world, and I'm not afraid to announce it to the whole school!"

James was now clearly very confused. "Lily, I haven't a single clue what I've done wrong. This isn't about another girl, is it?"

Lily snorted. "Potter, you don't remember, do you? Don't you remember what you said a week ago?"

"Er—no."

"Well, it went something like this…"

__

Lily was walking down the staircase from the girls' dormitory, and saw the Marauders in the common room, plotting some prank again, as usual. But as she edged nearer, she saw that they were talking about her.

"You and Lily make a cute couple," said Sirius in a serious tone (no pun intended). "If it wasn't for your sake, I'd definitely date her—she's way hot and sexy."

James raised an eyebrow while Remus snorted. "Gee, Sirius, and I thought you loved Arabella."

"Potter, don't even say a word. So what about Lily?"

"Evans," spat James, "is a goody-two-shoes and is such a perfectionist. Why would I want to date someone like her? _It would ruin my rep for sure. Besides, she's so annoying, though it's so obvious that she likes me."_

Lily's eyes widened, and she clenched her fists. Carefully, she wrote on a piece of parchment: I WILL ALWAYS HATE JAMES POTTER FOREVER.

James' chocolate eyes widened as he heard Lily finish her story. "Oh, Lils…I'm so sorry! I never meant to—"

"Yeah, yeah, save the puppy dog face for later, Potter. Just get out of my way!" She pushed him so hard that he nearly fell to the grass.

"Lily!" he called, running after her. "Wait!"

Lily spun around, her temper flaring up. "James Potter, I gave you a second chance this summer. You were decent, I admit, for a few months, but now you're acting like a jerk again. How stupid I was for ever thinking that we might actually be friends this year."

"Lily—"

"James." Lily stared at him with hatred. "Remember this: I will always hate you forever."

She left James looking after her with wide eyes.

Sirius ran over to his friend and looked at him curiously. "Hey, James. Whoa…you look like someone just slapped you. You all right?"

James glanced at Sirius before replying, "Do you know why Lily hates me so much?"

His best friend was surprised at the question. "Well…"

"It's because I've been such a jerk, Sirius. You remember me telling you that Lily was goody-two-shoes and a suck-up. I can't believe I said that. You know what, I don't care if Lily hates me forever, because I deserve that sort of hatred."

Sirius was surprised, but patted his friend gently. "James, don't be so hard on yourself. One day, you'll see Lily as the most beautiful girl in the world, and you'll bend down and marry her." He grinned as he saw James' doubtful look. "Trust me, James, one day it'll happen."

"Yeah," James sighed, looking up at the sky. "One day."

-

"Can I have your autograph, Mr. Potter?" asked a giggling third-year girl, as she and her friends squeezed through the crowd in the Gryffindor common room.

"Er—sure." James took a spare quill and signed his name on a piece of parchment. The girl squealed with joy and she and her friends went up to their dorm, analyzing the signature, no doubt.

Suddenly, Deanna Jackson appeared, smiling condescendingly. She approached James and linked arms with him. 

"Why, hello James Potter," she purred.

James grinned smugly. Ha! So Deanna hadn't ditched him after all…how stupid he had been in the first year to scoff at her so.

"Hey, Deanna," he answered, running a hand through his hair, trying to mess it up again. _(A/N: Some info gained from _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Lily, who had been watching all this with an eagle eye, sneered in contempt. "Stupid Potter thinks he's so great," she muttered to herself.

Arabella glanced at her friend and vaguely wondered if she had lost her mind. "You okay, Lils?"

Lily stood up angrily. "You know what? I'm not okay! In fact, I've never been okay ever since I've known that stupid prat, Potter!" She stormed into the girls' dorm furiously, managing to shoot a charm at James while passing, making his messy black hair neat.

"Oh, James, look what that Evans did to you!" cried Deanna, bursting into tears. "She made your hair _neat_."

"Well," admitted James, touching it with awe, "it is actually neat for once, which is more than I can say for Lily. After all, my mother's tried a lot of different ways to make my hair neat, and she's never accomplished it. Lily is a wonder at times."

Deanna snorted with disgust. "But James," she whined, "you used to have that sexy appeal when your hair was all messy…"

Lily held back a laugh as she laid down on her bed. _Sexy appeal…ha! Potter, that arrogant jerk, has no more brains than those stupid Slytherins do._

Suddenly, she sat up, and felt guilt spread through her. Lily knew that it was horrible for her to say such a thing, and to lie about it to herself as well. She knew very well that James Potter was one of the cleverest students at Hogwarts, able to perform very difficult spells, especially in Transfiguration, that even grown wizards have trouble with. Lily sighed. Oh, James Potter was so confusing! He was the one in the midst of her mixed-up feelings.

Then she thought of the prophecy, and read it in her head again:

The flower and the stag will become one

They will have a child that will defeat the Dark Lord

But the flower and the stag will allow him to do that

By sacrificing themselves in return.

The dog will keep a secret, that will ruin lives

He will have twelve years in misery.

But his true believers will rescue him,

Where he will be a refugee in hide.

But the dog will die for his one true believer,

He will die for the one he cares about the most.

The wolf will be shunned throughout his life,

Unable to find anything for what he is.

But he will find allies, and become welcomed,

Only to find himself alone, his friends gone.

The rat will become dark,

Joining forces with the Dark World.

He will abandon and betray his friends,

But will meet his fate within the Light.

Lily pondered on those words. So…now Sirius would die, joining she and James. But who would he die for? Perhaps Arabella? 

She also thought about Remus, and knew his story very well. He would leave Hogwarts and no one would accept him because he's a werewolf. But he would find people who trust him and welcome him and Lily had a shrewd suspicion that this someone was, or was related to, Professor Dumbledore.

Last of all was Peter. Lily had no idea what Peter's story would be, and found, surprisingly, that she barely cared. She always suspected that Peter would end his life by doing some stupid job like cauldron cleaning. But Peter become dark…The idea itself made Lily want to laugh. Well, Peter would meet his fate anyway, and she found out that she didn't care.

But what did this prophecy mean? Why was there a prophecy even made about the Marauders and Lily? How were they special, so that they would be mentioned? Lily had asked Dumbledore that before, but he merely shook his head and told her to ask, much to her displeasure, to Professor Trelawney, who had made the prophecy herself.

"My dear, I haven't a single idea what prophecy you're on about; perhaps you're delusional," was her unsatisfactory answer. Lily decided never again to ask Trelawney anything.

The funny thing was, no one else seemed at all concerned over the prophecy. In fact, they acted as though it were never made before at all. When Lily told the prophecy over to Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet, her three trustworthy friends told her that it was probably a practical joke that Trelawney pulled just to scare them.

"Whoever heard of Black dying for someone that he cared for the most?" Arabella had asked scornfully. "I didn't even **know **he cared for anyone but himself!"

Lily had decided never to ask her friends anything related the prophecy again, as well. So…her final destination was to the Marauders, to whom she shared the prophecy with.

She headed down the common room again, only to find James and Deanna snogging like mad, Sirius ogling at a blonde, Remus reading, and Peter staring out in space. Lily rolled her eyes, and approached Remus first, as he was the only one she actually had respect for these days.

"Hi, Remus."

Remus looked up and gave her a warm smile. "Hey, Lils. What's up?" He peered at her with a worried expression. "You look awfully stressed. Want to talk about it?"

"Actually, that's what I came here for."

He scooted over on the couch he was sitting on. "Have a seat."

"Thanks. Listen, Remus, you know that prophecy that Trelawney made about us?"

He raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"

Lily sighed in frustration. Was the only one with common sense not understanding, either? "Remus!" she exclaimed, sighing. "I thought you'd understand, at least. I mean, it is a bit weird, isn't it? How James, Sirius, Peter, and I will eventually die, leaving you alone in this world. It just seems…unnatural."

Remus smiled slightly and hugged Lily, just like what a brother would do. "Listen, Lily," he said seriously. "I know you've been stressed out over this prophecy. So are we all, though we're not showing it. Especially James and Sirius—they've been doing a lot of thinking about it. Sirius still can't get over the fact that he's going to be dead because he's trying to keep another alive. Poor bloke. Peter still won't believe that he'll turn over to the Dark Side, though I highly doubt it. I mean, Peter's our friend and everything, but I just can't imagine him serving some Dark wizard, you know?"

Lily laughed at this, but then sobered instantly. "Yeah. But it's really been worrying me. I mean, it's kind of funny how you know your own future and fate when you're barely half-grown yet."

Her companion gave her a gentle smile again. "Well, I'm trying to not believe it at all. I mean, it was easy to ignore, wasn't it? Trelawney's usually a fraud and only predicts peoples' deaths. But she sounded really weird when she predicted it this time…so we all think that it was real."

"Well, of course it was real!" said Lily indignantly. "The way her eyes all rolled up and stuff and that voice."

Remus grinned and shook his head. "Lils, you really need to learn how to control your temper. I never said we didn't think it was real."

"Yeah, well—" Lily stopped, realizing that Remus was right. "Whatever."

They both laughed merrily, now chatting like old friends again.

James had managed to pry Deanna out of his chair and looked around the common room, bored. He grinned as he saw Sirius still staring at the blond-headed girl, but his smile quickly faded as he saw Lily and Remus sitting together, laughing. He looked over at where Jennifer was sitting and wanted to see how she would take it, but she merely glanced over to the couple and smiled again, probably happy that Lily was her old self once more.

He felt a sudden surge of jealousy as he saw Lily's green eyes shine down on his friend. James knew that Remus would never cheat Jennifer, but still…he did look like he was enjoying himself. Not wanting to be left alone, James strolled over toward them, trying to act as cool as possible.

"Hey, Lily, Remus," he greeted enthusiastically, though his tone was rather high.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Hello, Potter. How nice to see that you're not snogging a girl, like you always do."

James sighed. Well, how could he expect something other than a witty and biting remark from Lily? She absolutely abhorred him so, and there was no way to ever earn her respect. He had a sudden fleeting image of himself, ten years older, waving in front of the Knight Bus with his two front teeth missing. He couldn't resist himself to snort loudly, causing Lily to become even more furious.

"Oh! So you think snogging and breaking girls' hearts is _fine. _Well, let me tell you something, Mr. I'm-So-Wonderful—"

"What?" cried James in alarm. "I never thought of such a thing!"

It was Lily's turn to snort in response. "Oh, gosh, Potter, I never knew a kid could be so pathetic as you are. It's so _obvious, _the way you mess up your hair and look over girls and show off with those stupid Quidditch reflexes of yours. It's as if you _enjoy _the attention you get."

"I do—" began James, but stopped as he saw Remus shake his head at him, glancing at Lily's angry face. "Well, now that you mention it, I am very ashamed of what I do and I'll try to deflate my head more."

Remus grinned at his friend, and then at Lily, who was still angry but softened slightly at the remark. _Lily is way too soft on my friend, _he thought, amused. _With a bit of James' Potter charm, Lily will fall head-over-heels for him. I'll just make sure that James really does love her before he proposes._

"Remus Lupin, what are you grinning at?" demanded Lily, glaring at her companion, who looked as if his face was going to crack, since he was forcing his smile all the way through.

"Huh?"

Lily sighed. "Your face looks like it's going to fall off. Seriously, if this is another one of your stupid stunts, then you can count me out."

"I'm not doing anything!" cried Remus defiantly. "James just told me a funny joke," he added, lying pathetically.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I could have heard Potter saying his stupid joke, or whatever, since he doesn't miss an opportunity to show off."

"Evans," said James firmly, his voice sounding more mature and deeper, "don't make me sick. I'm not that pompous and arrogant."

"Oh?" asked Lily, her temper rising up again, "then why do you show off with a stupid Snitch in front of George Brach when you're the Chaser? And why do you always love to ruffle up that stupid hair of yours and look over at the lake?"  


James pondered over her words. Yes, he supposed that Lily was right…But wasn't Snape or Diggory just as arrogant and foreboding like he was, maybe even worse? He wondered why Lily hated him more than the other arrogant gits at Hogwarts, and the question came out before he could stop himself…

"Why do you hate me more than the other people who are self-centered? Why me?"

Lily's green eyes were wide just then. Well, she did clearly hate Amos Diggory and Severus Snape just as much as James, but she never did pick on him. She felt angry that James had to ask her such a question. Why _did _she pick on James Potter more than all the other gits in Hogwarts?

"I don't think I need to answer that for you, Potter," she replied airily. "The answer is quite obvious, so don't use too much of your brain to think about it; you might hurt yourself."

James was starting to get impatient. "How is it obvious, Ms. Oh-So-Perfect? And don't flatter yourself that you're not arrogant, Evans. You always wave your hand around in class, hoping that you can show off your knowledge."

Before Lily could even retort to that, she thought of another thing. Why were the Marauders and herself mentioned in vague names in the prophecy? And how did the Marauders immediately figure out who was who in it?

"Whatever, Potter. I just need to ask you one more thing—in the prophecy, how did you know who you were when it was mentioned?"

James and Remus exchanged anxious looks, but said nothing.

"Well?" demanded Lily impatiently. "How? How did you know that you were a stag, Sirius was a dog, and Peter was a rat? Of course, it was obvious that Remus was a wolf and I was the flower."

James took a deep breath and said, as casually as possible, "Oh…lucky guess."

"Really? Well, I do suppose it all fits. I mean, you're a stag, because you're so proud; Sirius is a dog, because he's cuddly and lovable; Remus' a wolf, because, well, he is; and Peter's a rat, because he's not as large or confident as the rest of you, and he's very insignificant to many people, namely, the teachers."

"Yeah, yeah, that's right," said Remus, nodding vigorously.

Lily stared at them suspiciously. "You guys sound like you're hiding some secret. Well, out with it."

James' face was nearly covered with sweat by then, and Remus was having trouble breathing. 

"It's nothing," said James, shrugging his shoulders and trying to be cool and casual like Sirius always was. His hazel eyes were extremely worried. "Really, we're—"

"JAMESIE!"

The trio turned around to see Deanna grinning at James stupidly. Lily rolled her eyes and amused herself by looking at Deanna torturing James by hugging him roughly.

"Where were you, baby? I was so worried!"

The redhead snorted loudly, and Deanna looked over to her, smirking.

"Ah, Evans. You were the one who took my boyfriend away from me in your first year, right?"

Lily stiffened. "Your _boyfriend? _So that's why you and Potter were cuddling away…Shouldn't you be studying for your O.W.L.S.? You do take them this year, after all."

Deanna ignored the last comment completely, and dragged James off to her dormitory.

Remus smiled at Lily when they left. "Deanna's a sweet girl, isn't she?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, very. Sh—shoot, I forgot to do my Potions homework!" cried Lily in distress, as she rushed over to her bag, where heaps of parchment and books were piled.

"Lily, you still have two weeks. Hurst actually extended it…for once in his life, he was actually decent."

Lily laughed but it turned into a choke as she saw Sirius flirting with the same blonde he was staring at before. Remus looked too, and furrowed his brow as he turned back to Lily.

"He's not thinking properly," he said, trying to stick up for his friend. "He—he still likes Arabella, if that's what you're worried about…"

Lily sighed. "The world is falling apart, with Potter in the midst of it."

"Is it that extreme?" asked Jennifer amusedly, walking toward her. Lily grinned and nodded.

"Jenny!" exclaimed Remus.

"Remie!"

The two ended up in a fierce embrace, while Lily watched, entertained. 

"If you two would stop snogging, the world will be right once more," she said, trying not to laugh.

Remus and Jennifer smiled at each other, while Jennifer whispered, "The world will never be right, Lily, without James here."

***

The weather chilled once more as winter approached. The fourth years were busier than ever, since the teachers seemed to be thinking along the lines of Lily and gave them a lot of homework to prepare for the O.W.L.S., which weren't until more than a year later.

"Stupid McGonagall," mumbled James, as he glared at the growing pile of homework at his table in the common room, "she could have spared us some."

Sirius looked gloomily as his even larger pile of homework. "Reckon we shouldn't have pulled that prank on _Snivellus_, James?"

"Nah. The look on his face was worth this homework."

Lily, however, had barely a parchment of homework on her desk, as she finished off her last assignment, which was an essay on goblin rebellions for the History of Magic.

"Look at Evans," said James, his eyes shifting to Lily. "She has _no _homework to do at all. How does she do it?"

"She doesn't procrastinate like you two," came Remus' amused voice as he seated himself near his two friends.

"Huh! Well, at least we have a life, unlike her," said James heatedly, his hand ruffling up his hair again as he looked over at Lily admiringly.

Sirius snorted. "Just ask her out."

"I _have_. Guess what she said?"

"You're an arrogant git and she'd never go out with you."

"Well, similar idea, but here's the direct quote: 'Potter, I'd rather go out with the giant squid than with you'."

Sirius laughed. "Spunky lass."

"You're friends with her, Sirius. What does she say about me?"

His best friend peered at him earnestly. "Well, James, she really doesn't mention you at all. She says that she can't work out her feelings for you. Sometimes you act like a sensitive and shy sort of guy, and then you act like a complete idiot and jerk."

"Thanks a lot," James muttered under his breath.

"Enough of that, mate," said Sirius, waving it dismissively. "Now, about our potion…"

"I'm definitely a stag," said James quickly. 

"Well, obviously, since we all know our forms from the prophecy, but…well, Dumbledore heard the prophecy, didn't he? Then he'd know why we know what we are…"

"Dumbledore doesn't understand the prophecy," said James stubbornly, "so it doesn't matter to him."

"What if the potion doesn't work?" asked Remus quietly. "It'll all be my fault if you three turn into mutants or something…"

Sirius snorted. "Remie, stop worrying. You worry as much as Lily and James Potter," he added slyly, grinning at his best friend.

"Shouldn't you two be doing homework?" came a bossy voice. Lily was hovering above them, frowning.

James jumped in alarm. "Gods, Evans, you could've warned me!"

Lily smirked. "Why…were you discussing something secret?"

"Er—of course not."

"Right. Anyway, I see that you still have quite a pile of homework." Her eyes went over the stacked textbooks and parchments.

"'Tis none of your business."

"Maybe I can help."

"What is this? _Now _you're being nice! You know, I think this is a joke that you're trying to plan…"

"Potter, I don't plan jokes. I've decided to take pity on you, and help you out. Mind you, I won't do this often, so don't take advantage of the opportunity."

"Evans, I don't need your help on my homework; I can do it perfectly well, thank you."

"Really? Well, that's wonderful! Now I don't have to waste my good time teaching you bumbling idiots how to write good essays so you can get ten out of ten…"

"Wait," said James suddenly, attracted by the prospect of getting ten out of ten by simply having Lily do the work. "Maybe I'll consider your deal."

"Ha! Deal's off until next year, Potter." Lily cackled.

"What? Why next year?"

"Because that's when we take our O.W.L.S., and when you're likely to fail your career if you don't get enough of them. _That's _when I take pity on you."

James glared at her. "I can get all the O.W.L.S. possible, Evans, and get an 'Outstanding' for all of them, too."

"Really? Five Galleons that you can't get an 'Outstanding' on your O.W.L.S."

"Deal."

Lily grinned. "Consider yourself lost, Potter."

"As if, Evans."

Lily went off, now deep in thought. She knew very well that she would lose the bet, since James was an outstanding student who had the potential to do anything he liked for his career. She had gotten a spurt of pity and kindness when she saw James and Sirius complaining about their pile of homework, but caught herself just in time when James asked Lily about the deal.

James was having similar thoughts. He really liked Lily, though he wouldn't admit it for his life, but he didn't understand why he felt disappointed when he asked Lily out for a joke. He felt as if his heart was broken when he was "rejected" by her. He shook his head and sighed. He was going mad! Here he was, a brilliant student liked by most of the teachers, excellent at Quidditch, and had the most beautiful girlfriend a boy could ever dream of. What could he possibly be depressed about?

But for some reason, he was always off in his little world, not paying attention to what Sirius or Remus would say. James would find himself showing off like a prat whenever Lily was around, and not even meaning to. What was wrong with him?

"James? Hello…JAMES!"

"What?" James snapped out of his reverie, only to find Sirius goggling at him.

"You were spacing out, man. Why do you always do that these days?"

"Oh…just thinking about the next person I'm about to hex," said James quickly.

Remus frowned. "You mean you hex more than the Slytherins?"

"Well…naturally, since some people at Hogwarts bother me so much just by existing."

Sirius and Peter snickered, while Remus remained silent.

"Well, the Hufflepuffs are a bit pathetic, but the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors are friendly enough."

"Remus? Hello? We're trying to live up to our reputation at Hogwarts as mischief-makers and pranksters. The people _want _this."

James felt guilty as he continued saying this. Sirius and Peter kept laughing at his ideas, but he felt like what Remus felt: like he was going way over his head to impress people. He had nicked a Snitch from the lockers, and played with it, feeling proud whenever Peter or some passersby gasped at his reflexes. But most of all, he felt as though he was making Lily hate him by the second. All he ever wanted was attention and maybe some admiration from Lily, but by the looks of things, he doubted he would ever get either.

- - - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: I am SO, SO sorry that this took forever to post up, but I'm currently working on "Red Footprints", my historical fiction novel, so I have barely any time at all to work on this. No, I am not, or never, going to give up this story because of time or the release of the fifth book, or anything like that. This story will go through until the end.

Is anyone so disappointed in the ending of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? It is SO sad, and I always feel grief whenever I read fics about the character who died. Sorry I'm not exposing much information here, but lots of you out there probably haven't read, or finished, the book yet, so…yeah.

Thank you to all my reviewers! You're all wonderful! 


	15. Fourth Year: Part Three

Fourth Year: Part Three

"Very good, Ms. Evans!" cried Professor McGonagall in praise, as her best student performed a tricky transfiguration by turning her own table into a barking dog. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for such an outstanding transfiguration!"

James groaned. McGonagall was always favoring Lily for one thing or another and he was tired of it. But unfortunately, she had heard him groan, for she glared at him sharply.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Mr. Potter?" she barked. "Perhaps you think Ms. Evans isn't as advanced as yourself. Let us see what you can do."

James picked up his wand, pointed it to his head, and transfigured his head into that of a fish. Everyone gasped, and McGonagall stared, speechless.

"Well, you've certainly proved me wrong, Potter! You're showing sixth year transfiguration, which is more than I can say for most of you. Thirty points to Gryffindor!"

James smirked and glanced over at Lily, whose face was rather red. Ha! He knew he'd show her.

Lily felt humiliated, and a surge of jealously went through her. She had practiced the transfiguration of furniture into animals for nights on end, and here was James Potter showing off again by doing transfiguration that was well above O.W.L. levels. At least she'd be able to beat him in Charms, her best subject.

As class ended, James walked up to her and whispered, "Not so perfect, are you, Evans? McGonagall clearly thinks I'm more talented in Transfiguration than you are."

Lily restrained tears from coming down. "Well, Potter, at least I can do better in Charms than you. You were the only one who had extra homework because you couldn't master the Summoning Charm. _I _can do charms that are well above Ordinary Wizard Level and maybe above N.E.W.T. levels."

James shook his head. _When will Evans learn, _he thought. _I don't even care if she beats me in anything. I just like to get her riled up over something, since she looks so pretty when she's mad. Wait, where did _that _thought come from?_

"Why are you shaking your head, Potter? In denial?" Lily smirked.

James rolled his eyes. "Evans, I'd never be in denial for such a reason so trivial. Anyway…" He looked over her shoulder and groaned.

"What?"

"It's Snape and his gang."

And it was. Snape was strutting along with his usual gang, and smiled widely at Lily, who frowned back.

"Hello, Mudblood. Nice day, isn't it?"

Lily glared at him. "Oh, very nice day, Snivellus. Your hair is actually less greasier than usual."

But both Lily and James noticed a considerable difference in their gang. Now following the Slytherin boys were two girls, each very different from each other.

The first one was tall and thin, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a look as if there was dung under her nose. She was standing next to Malfoy, who seemed to be smug about having a girl next to him. They knew who she was of course—this was Narcissa Black, Sirius' very own cousin.

The second one had long, dark hair and creamy eyelids that veiled dark black eyes. She was shorter than Narcissa, but still quite tall, and had a strange dark beauty that seemed to intrigue Lily. She was Sirius' other cousin and Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix Black, and she stood next to Rodolphus Lestrange, who had his arm around her.

Bellatrix sneered at Lily. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Lily Evans, the perfect girl of Gryffindor. And what a surprise, it's James Potter, my _dear_ cousin's bestfriend."

James seethed in anger. "Stay away from Evans, you little—"

"Don't insult my girlfriend, Potter," snapped Lestrange, glaring at James forcefully. "I daresay she's much better looking than your Mudblood Evans and much more cleverer."

"Are you kidding me? Lily's one of the cleverest students at Hogwarts, if not the cleverest. _Your _girlfriend can't even compare with her!"

The funny thing was, James didn't seem to deny the fact that Lily wasn't his girlfriend.

Narcissa laughed. "Ah, now I see why you're friends with Sirius. You're just like him, arrogant, so full of yourselves. Pity, how your lives will end so shortly…"

The gang snickered, and Lily's temper rose.

"Shut up, you stupid idiots! _You'_re all going to be the ones who'll go first, since everyone in this school hates you already."

Avery, the newest member of their group, raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really, Evans? By the time the Dark Lord rises, you'll be dead, along with your mummy and daddy."

They laughed even harder. The rest of the Marauders and girls approached them. Sirius glanced at James with a puzzled expression. 

"Hey, James, what's the hold-up? We have to go to Quidditch…" He trailed off as he saw who they were talking to. 

Bellatrix smiled. "Well, if it isn't dear widdle Sirius, my _favorite _cousin." She sneered.

Sirius glared at her. "As far as I'm concerned, Bellatrix, you're no relative of mine. In fact, none of these worthless Blacks are."

Snape stared. "You do know that you're insulting your own family and yourself, don't you, Black?"

"I know very well what I'm saying, Snape. My family believes in a whole lot of crap, with their pureblooded speeches, and I can't stand it any longer. My mother, especially, and that cursed house-elf—"

"Kreacher is useful," interrupted Narcissa curtly.

"Oh, I didn't know Slytherins cared for someone or something other than themselves," snapped Sirius irritably.

Lestrange snorted. "Black, you are so thick at times, even though, for some reason, you get the best grades in our year…"

"Of course I do. After all, I try to stay away from my two cousins, so my intelligence improves."

Arabella glared at the whole lot of them. "C'mon, let's go. We don't want you guys to be late for Quidditch practice."

As they turned to go, Wilkes yelled, "Hey, Figg, want to go out with me?" All the Slytherins laughed uproariously at the comment.

Sirius shook with anger. "Those stupid prats," he mumbled. "Dating my cousins…soon I'll be the only Black left."

No one dared mention Sirius' parents or brother, for fear that he'd grow even angrier than before. Sirius absolutely abhorred his parents and brother, Regulus, for believing that the world should be rid of Muggle-borns and have all the purebloods rule the world. 

"Are you all right, Sirius?" asked Violet tentatively, after a while.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just that—gosh, I have the most **pathetic **and idiotic family! I'm ashamed of them all—well, except for Andromeda. At least _she _doesn't believe in that pureblooded crap like the rest of my miserable family." He ended with a bitter tone of voice.

"Er—I think it's time for Quidditch practice, Sirius," said James, hoping to cheer up his best friend a bit. "I tell you, we'll be the death of Wood if we don't hurry."

"Oh, yeah, right." Sirius hurried off after James, still grumbling about his brother and his house-elf.

"Sad kid," said Jennifer, shaking her head. 

"He does have a bad family," admitted Remus. "I mean, they do believe that the Muggle-borns should go back to 'their own world' and that the purebloods run the wizarding world—like how it used to be." He glanced sideways at Lily.

"Well, you can't blame them for thinking that," said Lily, shrugging. "I mean, some people just don't think that people like _me _should belong in their world. I'm fine with that."

"The Blacks have always been pureblooded, like the Malfoys, Lestranges…most of the Slytherins. They have a really long ancient history, even longer than Malfoy, though not as long as the Potters' ancestry. That's why Mrs. Black isn't too fond of Mr. and Mrs. Potter and their family…she was completely against having James over the summer." Remus sighed sadly. "She doesn't accept people like me, either, since I'm a—you know."

Jennifer glared angrily. "I can't believe them! No wonder why Sirius hates the lot."

Violet smiled sadly. "Well, I'm happy that my mother isn't as terrible as most Slytherins. She was deeply upset when she wasn't in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor—that's where most of my family's from—but she was euphoric when I got into Gryffindor. Poor Mum…she's always suffering taunts from the Ministry. Dad's always telling people off, maybe that's why he's not too popular."

"I like your dad," said Lily, remembering smiling Mrs. Walker and enthusiastic Mr. Walker when they both hugged Violet at King's Cross last year.

"He's really jolly," agreed Jennifer, nodding. "Unlike my parents, they're a bit of a joke, especially my mum. Never really liked magic, her. Don't know why Dad married her…I s'pose it was just fate."

"Your dad's nice," offered Arabella, trying to cheer her friend up. 

"I guess." Jennifer shrugged.

"Enough about families," said Remus briskly. "How about a game of chess in the common room?"

Everyone shrugged. "Sure."

While Remus and Arabella battled each other in chess with Remus and Violet watching, Lily stared with her green orbs outside to the Quidditch field, where the Gryffindor team was practicing.

Sirius was having a jolly time of his own, whamming the Bludger across the field at unexpected teammates. Lily smiled. She also saw James, but scoffed at him while he shot the Quaffle past the Keeper many times.

Unfortunately, the window was open, and Lily, before she could stop himself, called out, "Hey Potter, how about passing the Quaffle for once?"

Realizing her mistake, Lily clapped her hands to her mouth, horrified, while the rest of her friends sniggered. 

"Good one, Lils," said Arabella, trying to stifle her laugh.

James was startled at Lily's voice and looked around to see her peering at him from Gryffindor Tower. He grinned.

"Hey, Evans, didn't know you admired me so much!"

Lily's face turned red and she glared at him. "Don't worry, Potter, I was just giving you a few tips to improve!"

The Gryffindor Keeper was not pleased at all.

"Potter, keep practicing!" he barked. "We have the match in less than one week. We don't want to be talking to people from other Houses, especially the Ravenclaws." He visibly shuddered.

"Nah, that was just Evans," said James disdainfully. "She was trying to give me a few 'pointers' and told me to pass the Quaffle more often. Stupid perfectionist."

"Evans? As in, Lily Evans?" The Keeper suddenly looked interested. "Well, you'd better listen to her, Potter, she's a right genius, she is."

James rolled his eyes. Why did everyone laud Lily so? He was just as good as him, and all anyone's ever told him was to not play any pranks!

"Hey, Potter! Pass us the bloody Quaffle, for God's sake!" cried one of his fellow Chasers impatiently.

James thrust the red ball into the boy's hands and flew to where the right hoop was. He was positioned.

One of the Chasers threw the Quaffle to the other, who threw it to James. James did one of his famous feints and scored easily.

Their Keeper was very pleased and congratulated James throughout the whole practice, much to the disgust of Lily. She was even more disappointed that none of the other members of the team felt any spite toward James for showing off.

When she confided this to Sirius and Remus, James' two best friends, the next day, they both nearly laughed their heads off, much to her further displeasure.

"Don't be such a wet rag, Flower," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Jamie **had **to do a feint, how else was he supposed to get it through Wood's superb Keeping?"

"But _still_—" Lily found that her argument was useless and huffed in indignation. 

Remus tried to comfort her, which lessened her anger very slightly.

"Besides, Lily, that's one of the secret strategies as to how our Gryffindor team is the best," he said confidently. "Our feints have worked every time; the other Houses still don't realize that those are feints yet…"

"Daft, the whole lot of them," sneered Sirius.

Lily was thoroughly bewildered with their replies, half the reason being that she had no idea what feints _were_. 

So she asked Arabella what feints were, which she regretted almost immediately after the words went out of her mouth.

"You don't know what _feints _are?" she cried, tears of mirth leaking from her brown eyes. "Oh, gee, Lils, I never knew you'd be this daft when Quidditch is the subject!"

She went on cackling the whole day, much to Lily's impatience and embarrassment.

"Well, it's not my fault," said Lily to herself, as she sank into a couch in the common room. "I mean, I may be good at academics, but I'm certainly not an expertise when it comes to Quidditch."

She hadn't noticed a certain black-haired boy sneak up from behind the couch she was sitting on.

"BOO!" James cried.

"ARGH!" screamed Lily, her eyes widening. When she saw who it was, she narrowed her eyes and threw up her hands.

"What do you want from me, James Potter?" she demanded furiously.

"Go out with me," was James' simple reply.

"Not over your dead body!"

"Oh? I thought it was 'I wouldn't go out with you if it was competition between you and the giant squid'."

Most people would have preferred to die rather than to get Lily into a fit, but James, on the other hand, wasn't "most people". So, he decided to take a chance, which, I might add, was a very poor one.

Lily slapped him right across the face, where a bloody red mark appeared almost instantly. She grabbed her bag, which was lying at the foot of the couch, and stormed out of Gryffindor Tower, leaving a stunned James behind.

James was hurt. He never meant to make Lily so angry, and was still unable to figure out why she still hated him so much. He thought that he had changed. He still hexed people that bothered him of course; why wouldn't he? But he stopped showing off, except for in Quidditch, where a little showing off was necessary. He stopped dating other girls and "dumped" Deanna Jackson, even though they weren't even going out as an official couple. He continued to call Lily "Evans", though, because he was only returning the favor of being called "Potter". Other than those certain points, James Henry Potter thought that he had improved a lot since last month. But did it satisfy, Lily? No.

Sirius was no help to his problems, either. Even though they were best friends, and first mates, Sirius couldn't help him in the Department of Trying to Make Lily Go Out With James Potter. Sirius offered to spy on "Lilikins" for him, but it turned out with disastrous effects.

Next, James tried to console himself with Remus, only to find that he was even worse than Sirius. Remus only told him, very wisely, that he should just forget about impressing Lily and get on with trying to redeem himself as a good person with good intentions and integrity. James had pondered over Remus' words and finally concluded that Remus did not understand his need to impress Lily…but then again, he didn't understand it himself either.

He found no desire in seeking Peter for answers. For one thing, it would ruin his reputation to be asking Peter for help. It was usually the other way around, when Peter desperately begged James for advice, which mostly consisted of Potions homework and exams. For another thing, he had a shrewd suspicion that Peter would be an even worse adviser than Sirius and Remus put together—which was really saying something.

So James decided to let it go—for now, at least.

***

"James, here's the Quaffle!" cried Johnson, one of the Gryffindor Chasers.

James grabbed it, zoomed past several Ravenclaws, and spotted the Keeper, Bradley Kingston. He thought of shooting it directly, but thought better of it, since Kingston was an outstanding Keeper. James feinted his most complex and confusing feint, and shot the Quaffle easily through the left hoop. The cheers of Gryffindors were heard easily, even if you were miles away.

"He's so dreamy," said a second-year to her friend. "I wish he was my boyfriend."

"I heard he likes Lily Evans, though," said her friend, sighing. "I wish _I _was her—but they say she hates him. But Lily's so pretty and smart, she could have any boy in this school."

Lily, fortunately, had not heard this, because she was too absorbed in the game itself. Even though she barely understood Quidditch, she knew the basic rules and felt light and giddy that Gryffindor was in the lead. If they beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin both, they would have the Quidditch Cup and have a good chance of winning the House Cup as well, as they have done for the past three years.

Violet noticed her friend's excitement. "Impressed with James' little feint, are you?" she teased.

Lily flushed. "Oh, Vi, stop it." But her cheeks burned with pleasure.

"James is looking at you, Lils," whispered Jennifer, while giggling with Arabella and Remus. "It's so romantic."

"Jen," said Lily warningly. "I've no sort of good feelings for James Potter; he's an insufferable prat."

"Ah, well, we all have our faults," said Arabella, nodding, when Jennifer told her what happened woefully. "It's the simple disease of blindness."

"And Black makes an astounding hit that sends the Bludger to Davies!" cried the commentator. "Way to show those brains, Black!"

Sirius grinned at the comment and waved at his fellow Gryffindors, narrowly missing the Bludger that was sent back at him in revenge.

__

"Sirius!" gasped many of his fan-club members and ex-girlfriends. Arabella rolled her eyes.

"He's quite popular with the ladies," mused Jennifer.

"Of course," agreed Remus crisply. "Sirius has always been the ladies' man…"

"Except when dealing with _ex_-girlfriends," snapped Arabella. She was in a testy mood at that very moment.

"Oh—er—of course," stammered Remus, surprised at the outburst.

"AND BRACH CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS TWO HUNDRED TO SIXTY!" cried the commentator, jumping up and down with excitement

All the Gryffindors stood up and cheered wildly. They streamed out to the field to hug all their team members, namely, James Potter and Sirius Black. 

"Here we go again," murmured Lily disgustedly as many girls swooned over James and Sirius as they kissed them impulsively.

"Good show, mate!" cried Remus, forgetting his usual reserved self. "Brilliant feint, James! Excellent hit, Sirius!"

James and Sirius merely chuckled at their friend's unusual behavior.

"So, Lily," said James, leaning against his broom casually. "How did you think of my feint?"

"It was satisfactory," said Lily haltingly, though she was rather amazed and impressed with it.

"Oh, Lily, don't lie," said Jennifer teasingly. To James, she said, "She loved it."

"I did not!" exclaimed Lily hotly. "I mean—I didn't _say_—"

"Oi, Flower, chill," said Sirius soothingly. "You don't have to get so worked up."

"Oh, but—"

"—take a deep breath now—"

"—I never said it was bad, I said it was all right—"

"—forget all your worries—"

"Sirius, shut UP," snapped Lily in frustration. 

Sirius and James both sniggered at Lily, and even Remus smiled slightly.

"Prats," she muttered under her breath.

"Now, now, Lily, no bad language," said Sirius seriously (no pun intended)

"Oh, no, Sirius, I leave the bad language to you," said Lily mockingly. "Really, you say f—" She stopped. "Never mind."

"What?" teased James. "Too good to swear?"

"In fact, yes, Potter. Swearing is for the weak and the uncontrollable."

"Huh?" Sirius was confused and scratched his head. No surprise there—Sirius was always confused about one thing or another.

"Yes, Sirius, we know you're confused," said Remus gently. "Don't work too hard now."

Everyone laughed except Arabella, who looked extremely indignant.

"He's not that daft!" she exclaimed, offended. "He has his moments…I mean, after all, he is one of the cleverest students in the school."

Lily and James noticed how Bella never said Sirius' name, but always referred to him as "he".

"Now you're talking to me," said Sirius sourly, "after I tried about one hundred times to even look at me this past year."

Arabella turned red. "Well, you were rotten," she said loftily.

"Humph. Yeah? Well, does it matter if I say that I still like you?"

There was an eerie silence. Even the cheers in the distance from Gryffindors were muffled. Arabella couldn't believe what she was hearing and Sirius turned bright red at what he said, but everyone else, especially Lily and James, their best friends, grinned knowingly.

"E-Excuse me?" she stammered.

Sirius was still in a ranting mood, because he continued on. "Bella, I really, really like you, and I can even go to extremes to say I love you. But my point is, I really miss you, and I know it was right rotten of me to snog Lori Paterson while telling you I was going somewhere different. I was seeing her for a week, but I guess my hormones at the beginning of the year were going haywire. I haven't dated a single girl in ages, because I'm thinking of you."

Arabella glared at him. "Hel-lo! Sirius! You've been making lovesick faces at girls since we broke up! You don't care about me, and I don't believe you one bit. Nice speech though. It almost did convince me for a second there." She dashed inside the castle without another word.

Everyone stared at Sirius, seeing his reaction. But he only muttered, "Should've known." He walked slowly and dejectedly back to the castle, not noticing many girls watching him with a lovesick expression. Because there was only one girl for him, and she hated him.

Lily's eyes filled with tears. "B-Bella…" She started sobbing.

James put his arm around her, comforting her. For once, she didn't object and cried in his arms. Jennifer and Remus looked at each other, and then at Violet and Peter, who were completely bewildered by the sudden events that had occurred in less than ten minutes. 

"Shall we all go back now?" asked Jennifer quietly. There was a murmur of assent and everyone went back to the castle, the euphoric at winning the match completely forgotten.

-

For the next few days, Arabella sulked in the fourth year girls' dormitory for nearly all day, except to go to classes. She wouldn't talk to Lily, Jennifer, or Violet and lay in bed reading tragic love novels, like _Romeo and Juliet._ Her three best friends tried talking to her, but she ignored them. What was the good of even having friends when you couldn't get the boy you liked back because for fear he may break your heart again?

Life was definitely not far, especially for Arabella Figg. She had twisted ideas of maybe asking Dumbledore to change her into a Muggle or a Squib, so she could live in Surrey, be an old maid, and have twenty cats living with you, loving you, injuring you, etc. Bella had a suspicion that Dumbledore would refuse, even though he would probably be able to do it. In fact, she had gone so far with her plan that she actually asked Professor Dumbledore about it while passing him and McGonagall in the hallway.

Bella had gotten a light chuckle from the old wizard and a stern glare from McGonagall. Obviously _she _didn't understand Bella's feelings, so the whole idea was thrown into the trash.

When she had finally consoled herself to speak to her friends, they were alarmed at her idea about being a Muggle or Squib. Or, at least Jennifer and Violet were alarmed, while Lily was snickering quietly to herself. The latter thought that she had a very, very odd best friend, though lovable just the same.

"McGonagall looked at me like I was insane," Arabella confided, frowning. "I don't know why, though."

Lily burst out laughing. "Oh, God, Bella, that's the most HILARIOUS thing I've ever heard in my life!" She had tears coming down her eyes.

"Er—" Arabella looked quizzically at her friend. It was a perfectly normal idea to her, but then again, she wasn't quite normal as far as "normal" standards go.

Lily wiped her eyes. "I mean, really, Bells, not many people at age fourteen want to be turned into a Muggle or Squib and live with cats all their lives. You can imagine the obvious humor in this."

Arabella thought about it. Well, it was a bit odd. Suddenly, she pictured herself ten years older, tripping over one of her cat's tail and breaking her leg, causing her to walk with crutches for a month. She rolled on the floor and went in hysterics along with Lily, and were joined by Jennifer and Violet.

When the Marauders came into the girls' dormitory for a bit of entertainment, they were surprised and alarmed at four Gryffindor girls laughing their heads off about God-knows-what. They stared at them.

Lily was the first to recover, since she was the first one in the hysterics. "Oh—hi—guys."

"Hi Lily," said James, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh—hi—James. You know—Bella—came—up—with—the—most—hilarious—idea—ever."

"Really?" said Sirius sarcastically. "Please enlighten us."

So Lily went off to tell the boys the hilarious idea of Arabella's. James and Sirius were laughing too, Remus chuckling, and Peter just smiling like an idiot (which he is). After five minutes, everyone had calmed down and decided to play a game of Exploding Snap. However, the girls and the Marauders, with the exception of Arabella and Sirius, were plotting to get them together again.

"I say," whispered Jennifer, "that we ditch the old-fashioned closet trick. It doesn't work for stubborn prats like those two."

"But it worked the first time," whined James.

"Shut up, Potter," snapped Lily.

"My name is _James._"

"Well, I like _Potter _better."

"Well, you know what? You've just—"

"Hello?" Remus glared at his friend. "We're trying to help Bella and Sirius here."

"Oh…right."

"I think we should use the Astronomy Tower trick," said Lily, her eyes shining with mischief. "I mean, it worked for Jenny and Remus."

"But that was only once," objected Jennifer, blushing.

James grinned. "I say we come up with a new plan, Evans. After all, Figg was the one who came up with Astronomy Tower thing in the first place."

"I suppose…" Lily frowned. Why did James always have to be right?

"Look, I think that we should make Sirius rescue Bella, like a hero thing," said Remus. When no one interrupted him, he continued. "I mean, James, you and Sirius have always been doing the saving-people thing. So I think we should tell Sirius that Arabella is—er—hurt, or something, and he'll obviously rescue her. Right?"

"It's worth a shot," said Violet, smiling slightly. "But what happens if Sirius just scoffs and says that he doesn't care and that we should save Bella?"

Remus grinned. "Ah, that's where we make the story more drastic, Vi, my friend…"

***

"And," finished James, breathing quickly. "I suspect that the centaurs are nearly strangling Arabella right now…"

"Wait a minute," interrupted Sirius, frowning. "I'm not stupid, you know. Why don't all of you just rescue her, instead of asking me? Why am I so special?" He glanced suspiciously at all of them.

Everyone looked around at Violet, who had an "I told you so" look on her face.

Lily scowled. "Sirius Black, just go and HELP her, for God's sake!"

Sirius sighed. "Oh, all right. Let me get my cloak…"

"See? Did I tell you it would work?" asked Remus, with a smug look on his face.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. He'll find out that this was all a hoax any second now."

Sure enough, a yell was heard from outside the castle that startled everyone.

"LILY AND JAMES POTTER, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO US? NO MORE MATCHMAKING FOR YOU!"

Yet again, Violet gave them a look that clearly said, "I told you so."

"Busted," whispered Jennifer.

"Big time," agreed James.

A few people in the common room sniggered, and Deanna shot death glares at Lily, and mouthed "Boyfriend stealer".

Lily rolled her eyes. "Looks like your _ex-_girlfriend is jealous, Potter."

"Why?"

"Stupid Sirius called us 'Lily and James Potter'. Prat, he is…"

James chuckled. "Don't be so rough on my best friend, Evans. I can understand why he thought we did it."

"I can't."

"Well, because we've been doing most of the matchmaking around our little circle of friends. See, we do work well together—at times."

Lily thought about it and realized that he was right. Gosh. She hated it when James was right.

"They should make me the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain for next year," said James after a while.

"Why? Don't show-off enough?"

James looked angrily at her. "Why do you always think I'm showing off, Evans? I deserve to be the captain! I mean, I've worked so hard on planning strategies with our dear captain, Wood, that—"

"Potter, does it occur to you that maybe someone else might deserve the place as captain? Why must _you _be the captain when there might be someone as able as you?"

"Hey, I work harder than any other member—"

"How do you know?" asked Lily saucily.

There was a silence that followed. The rest of their friends looked at each other, shaking their heads, as Lily and James continued to bicker.

-

"Five points from Gryffindor, Evans," snapped Hurst, as they sat down for their usual Monday afternoon Potions class.

"Why?" asked Lily, alarmed. 

"You were being such a insufferable know-it-all again. Maybe you'd allow someone like Mr. Snape to answer these questions, instead of showing off yourself."

The Slytherins sniggered, and the Gryffindors shot Lily extremely sympathetic looks.

"That stupid Hurst," muttered Sirius. "Making Lily feel bad like that in front of all those Slytherins…"

"Well, now Evans knows that she really does show off," said James snottily.

Sirius looked around at him in surprise. "Lily doesn't show off. She just knows the answer to the questions Hurst asks us."

"But she waves her arm around like it's a choice between life and death."

"I think that may be a bit drastic, James," said Remus, amused.

"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Potter? Black? Lupin?"

The three Marauders sat straight up and made innocent faces. "Of course not, Professor."

Hurst sneered, but said nothing. "Detention. All three of you."

"What?" demanded Sirius in horror. "We did do anything!"

"Ha! A likely story, Black. Detention, eight o'clock tonight, my office. You're going to be organizing some of my materials…"

James groaned inwardly. Being in Hurst's office right after dinner and cleaning and organizing his ingredients was not the best way to spend a Monday night. For all he knew, they could have been marauding around the school again under his Invisibility Cloak.

Lily smirked. _Shows Potter right, taking in class._

"Is there something very amusing, Evans?" snapped Hurst suddenly, stopping his lecture on Confusing Concoctions.

She was startled and ignored the snickering from the Slytherins and James. "Not at all, Professor Hurst," she said innocently.

"Evans, you will be joining Potter, Black, and Lupin in detention tonight."

"What! You—you can't do that!" cried Lily. She had maintained a spotless record so far without an absent, tardy, or detention mark. It was all Potter's fault.

"Indeed, I can, Ms. Evans," said Hurst with a sinister smile. The Slytherins were now positively roaring with delight. Four Gryffindors in one detention! Brilliant Hurst!

Lily was fuming by the end of class and ran to Defense Against the Dark Arts, nearly running down first and second years who were going to Herbology and Transfiguration.

"Sorry," she mumbled, as she knocked down a third year.

"Hey, Lily, wait up!" called Sirius, dragging James and Remus along with him. "Gosh, that girl can run fast—"

"Probably crying that she got her first detention," said James disdainfully. "Perfect Evans."

"That's a bit harsh, James," said Remus, frowning. "I mean, she was just _smiling. _Is that such a crime?"

"Technically, Remus, it is for Hurst."

Professor Wickham was leafing through the textbook when Lily barged in, took her regular seat, and slammed her bag down on the table. Wickham was surprised.

"Is there something the matter, Lily?"

"Oh, no, Professor," said Lily, not looking up. "Not having a great day, that's all."

"Would you like to talk about it?" asked the young wizard sympathetically.

"No, no, it's all right." Lily still did not look up.

The Marauders took the seats right behind Lily so they could watch her for further breakdowns. But she acted like nothing happened, taking her dutiful notes.

"Are you all right, Lils?" whispered Arabella, when the class got settled.

"I'm fine."

"That was wicked of Hurst to give you your first detention. Shall we prank?"

Lily smiled weakly. "Nah. Leave the git…we'll deal with him on the last week of school."

On hearing the word "prank", the Marauders were distracted from Wickham's lecture on the three Unforgivables, as interesting as they were.

"They're planning something!" said Sirius excitedly. "Oh, if only we knew—"

"We should be taking notes, Sirius," snapped Remus, looking at Wickham with respect in his eyes. "_Avada Kedavra _is the Killing Curse in which…" He continued to mumble out important things.

"Wickham is so boring," said James, his eyelids drooping. "I mean, he's cool and everything, but his lectures are so soporific."

__

"They're interesting," said Remus practically, his gray eyes widening at something that Wickham had just said. He started to mumble again. "The Imperius Curse can only be restrained by few wizards and witches, namely Aurors…"

James had started to take notes like Remus as well, but Sirius was not interested at all. He quickly fell asleep a few minutes later, his head crashing into his parchment and quill on the table, his hair a few inches from his gleaming ink bottle.

"Mr. Black," said Wickham in an extremely amused tone, "would you like to join us now?"

Remus flushed and nudged, or rather jabbed, his friend with his elbow. Sirius woke up almost instantaneously, his head sore.

"Ow! What the hell, Remus…"

The class erupted into laughter, and Sirius turned pink, looking around sheepishly.

"Whoops…sorry Prof. Won't happen again."

"I'm sure I can trust you next time, Sirius," said Wickham, who looked as if he were trying not to laugh.

Lily, Jennifer, and Violet giggled, but Arabella sniffed indignantly.

"Stupid idiot," she said scornfully.

"Would you like to tell us why you fell asleep, Mr. Black?" continued Wickham. He wasn't mad at all; he was merely curious at Sirius' behavior.

"Oh!" Sirius looked around for help from his friends, but they avoided eye contact with him, for fear of bursting out laughing. "Well, you see, Peter here"—he jabbed his finger toward his small friend at the end of the table—"was singing a lullaby."

Everyone was shaking with laughter, and Sirius was grinning as he continued in an earnest voice.

"So, Peter was singing a lullaby, and I immediately thought of pink bunny rabbits jumping over a fence. Then one of them couldn't jump as high and _slammed_"—he made a gesture by slamming his fist into his opposite hand—"into the fence and died. The other bunnies were very sad, and his mum and dad were crying. Oh yeah, his ex-girlfriends were sad too, but one of them started laughing and cut off his head for revenge."

The whole classroom went into hysterics; everyone rolled on the floor, laughing, except for Wickham, who was smiling amusedly.

"Ah, I see, Mr. Black. I suppose, Sirius, that that really happened?"

"Oh yes," said Sirius, nodding his head vigorously.

"Very well. Class dismissed."

"Sirius, you are a GENIUS when it comes to making everyone get out of class without a single note taken!" appraised James, still red from laughing.

"Quite," agreed Remus, chuckling.

"Oh, Sirius, you have to do that often!" exclaimed Jennifer, wiping her eyes. "It was _hilarious, _I tell you…"

"Yes, well, I am a genius, aren't I?" he asked, grinning modestly.

Dinner went by very quickly, and soon Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were heading down to Hurst's office for their detention.

"I still can't believe I got a detention!" moaned Lily. "That'll show up on my file, it will, and Mum and Dad will be so disappointed!" She looked on the verge of crying.

"It's not that bad," said James gently. "I mean, we've all gotten hundreds of detentions—Sirius and I, at least, but Remus has hit ninety-nine tonight—and all the teachers still love us." He grinned toothily.

Lily sighed. "You know, you really didn't make me feel better."

"Why? We still pass exams with the highest grades."

"Yeah, but it gives the teachers a lower trust in you."

"Oh, come on, Lils, McGonagall loves you, for God's sake!" urged James. "And she's the strictest teacher in this school…besides Hurst, but he hates everyone but Slytherins, so…yeah."

"You're late. Another ten points from Gryffindor," snapped Hurst maliciously, as they entered his office. "Dear, dear, you shouldn't wander around the corridors, children."

The Marauders glared at him, but said nothing. He gave them instructions, and they started cleaning and organizing—without magic.

"Well, I suppose it isn't so bad," admitted Lily, as she scrubbed and organized quickly and efficiently.

The other three Marauders stared at her.

"How do you do it so quick?" asked Remus in awe.

"I'm Muggle-born, and I help Mum with this kind of stuff all the time," said Lily matter-of-factly. 

"Using magic would make this so much simpler," groaned James.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to do some elbow-grease work for once in your life," said Lily smartly.

"But we're so used to magic, since we practically live on it."

"Well, it's not your fault. You don't have any Muggle blood in you."

"It can be a disadvantage at times like these," admitted James.

"Is Potter actually not being arrogant?" asked Lily in mock horror. "Oh my…the world will end any minute now!"

"Oh, shut up, Evans."

"I was only acting," said Lily smugly.

After an hour or so of the tedious work, Hurst came back and was amazed to find his office neat and very clean.

"Well, I think you've done enough," he said, sneering. "My, my, I should keep you in here tomorrow, since Evans does a better show of cleaning than you three when I have you here alone."

"Lousy git," muttered Sirius, as they left for Gryffindor Tower.

As they headed off to bed, James called, "Lily! Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," said Lily uncertainly, ignoring the wink that Sirius sent her.

James took a deep breath. "Look, I'm really sorry about landing you in detention today."

"Huh?" Lily was confused. "You didn't land me in detention—it was Hurst."

"Yeah, well." He shrugged. "I suppose it was kind of my fault, since we got the detention in the first place."

She snorted. "No hard feelings, Potter."

His face brightened and he grinned. James leaned closer to Lily and kissed her.

It was like fireworks when it happened. Every part of Lily's body was shaking as she slowly yielded to the demands of James' mouth. Neither of them understood what was happening. Lily's long lashes brushed James' cheek, and her hand closed over the one that James had on her cheek.

Then James jumped up, breathless, and turned a deep shade of red.

"Lily, I'm sorry," he whispered, and rushed up to his dormitory, leaving Lily standing there, speechless.

She pondered on his purposes of kissing her when they weren't getting along very well, still. But as Lily thought of the kiss, she smiled. It felt like heaven when her lips met James', and it was bliss. She felt as though every part of her would burst and that every worry she ever had was gone. Little did she know, Lily Evans was slowly falling for James Potter—just like how all her friends told her.

- - - - - 

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few of my imaginary characters, and J.K. Rowling owns the rest. You can tell that I am not J.K. Rowling, because I have none of her charm, wit, or humor when it comes to writing narratives.

A/N: I actually updated in less than one week! I was predicting that this chapter would come in about three months, but instead, I RULED and I SUCCEEDED! Yes! LOL! Anyway, I hope you like it, and please review! Whoo-hoo! One more part, and it's their fifth year, where all the drama starts to happen…dun, dun, dun.

Thank you to all my faithful reviewers! I love you all! 


	16. Fourth Year: Part Four

Fourth Year – Part Four

The fourth years were giving much homework during the Easter holidays, in which none of the Marauders and girls went home to. Instead, they worked on tables in the Gryffindor common room, going through notes and writing essays, since exams were less than two months away. Life was passing quickly for the two groups, and they knew that next year they would have to decide their future.

"This is so stupid!" cried James, banging his fist on _Intermediate Transfiguration. _"Why are they giving so much homework?"

"Our O.W.L.s are coming up soon," nagged Lily, frowning at her History of Magic essay.

"We take them _next year_!" exclaimed James incredulously. "I mean, what the hell…"

Remus raised his eyebrows. "You could do with a better attitude, Mr. Potter," he said, in a mock-McGonagall voice. "You wouldn't want to land in detention again, now, would you?"

"And the Quidditch Finals are coming up," added James, as if that settled the point.

"They're more than a month away," said Lily briskly. "Quite worrying."

"You care more about the stupid exams than the Quidditch Final," he accused, pointing his finger at her direction.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously. I'm not a virtuoso at Quidditch, so why should I care? Of course, I would love Gryffindor to win the Cup, but there are no guarantees, since the Slytherins cheat so much. The exams, though, you can prevent from failing them."

"Show-off."

"Excuse me?" said Lily indignantly. "I am _so _not!"

"I am _so _not," mimicked James.

"Shut up, Potter!" 

"Shut up, Evans!"

"Will you two put a cork on it?" roared Sirius. "I'm trying to do my Charms essay here."

"I'll do it for you, Sirius," offered Lily, giving him an over-sweet smile.

He brightened. "Really?"

"Nah. I was just testing you."

This did not put Sirius in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Jennifer and Remus were having whispered conversations in which all the other friends were jealous of. They still managed to maintain a healthy and snog-full relationship, unlike the others, namely Sirius and Arabella, who were sitting on opposite sides of the room. Not healthy…or full of snogging.

"Don't be too hard on everyone, Lils," said Violet, who was peering at James and Sirius over her Potions essay. "They need a break. All this studying and homework is getting to our heads. We're not as clever as you are."

"Yeah, Evans, listen to Vi," said James, nodding.

"Potter?"

"Yeah?"

__

"Shut up!"

"Gee, no need to yell."

"You do know that I'm trying to live up to a Prefect badge, right?" asked Lily.

"Er—no. Why would you ever want to do that?" James was surprised.

"Well, it does look good when you apply for a job."

"Look good? Who cares! Being a Prefect will so ruin my reputation as a prankster."

"I second to that," came Sirius' voice from across the room.

"Well, it will," continued Lily, not looking up. "I mean, especially if you're going to become an Auror."

James perked up. An Auror? The Potters have always had a long line of Aurors, starting from the beginning of time. His parents were Aurors, his grandparents were Aurors, his great-grandparents were Aurors, and so forth. 

"Well, I will, of course," he said confidently. "My family have always been Aurors as far as I can remember."

Lily stared at him. "Well, then, you should be preparing right now! I hear it's a very difficult path."

"Why should I?" asked James lazily. "We're only in our fourth year—"

"—and graduating from Hogwarts in three years," she snapped back. "You should be thinking about your future right now! Besides, don't think you can be an Auror so easily, Potter, just because you have a whole line of Aurors in your family. I hear you have to get an 'Outstanding' on your Potions O.W.L. to even take Potions in sixth year. And you know how important Potion knowledge is to Aurors, Potter."

James nodded. "The only reason why we don't do good in Potions is because of Hurst. Dumbledore will do something about his attitude toward everyone except for Slytherin."

Remus sighed. "Really, why don't you guys, like Sirius says, just put a cork in it? I'm trying to do my essay for Wickham…"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Remus, you don't even need to concentrate for that. You basically know Wickham's speeches by heart."

Remus turned red, but said nothing.

Neither Lily nor James mentioned their kiss that occurred nearly two months ago. They both accepted it as something done because their hormones were working overtime again, and because too much stress leads people to do unexpected things. They both dismissed it like it never happened, and continued to argue and shake up Gryffindor Tower. Yes, things were getting back to normal again for Lily and James.

"So, Lily," started James, hoping it was a casual voice. "What are you going to do for the summer?"

Lily reflected for a moment. "Why, I really have no idea…"

"You can come to my house over the summer," he said quickly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, can I? Even though we hate each other?"

James' eyes were pleading. "Oh, please, Lily? Besides, my mum already sent me a letter asking if my friends and your friends could come over the summer again."

"Oh, really? And when was this?"

"A couple of weeks ago. I think Quaffle planned it, because he went away one night, and didn't come back for three days, returning me with my mum's letter."

"Quaffle?" Lily snorted. "You named an owl _Quaffle_?"

"Hey! I am a Chaser, after all!" James was indignant.

"Quidditch obsessed," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

"If you think I'm weird," he continued, sniffing, "then you should know that Sirius named **his **owl Bludger."

Lily laughed. "Oh, God, boys and Quidditch. Very incurable indeed."

"Quidditch is life," said James solemnly.

"Are you serious?"

"Nah, he is." He pointed to a dark-haired boy scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.

She rolled her eyes. "How tacky."

"Did you do something to Snape today?" asked Arabella suddenly.

James grinned at her sheepishly. "Why, my dear Figgy, why would I ever do such a thing to Severus?"

Lily could see his jaw twitch slightly.

"Oh, please," said Arabella, snorting. "I just saw him on the grounds with purple hair, an even larger and more crooked nose, and feet the size of trolls." She raised one eyebrow curiously.

"He had to be punished," mumbled Sirius from the table.

"What?" Arabella looked around at him.

"Yeah. He started to insult my family."

"But I thought you didn't like your—"

"I don't like my family—despise them, in fact. But they're my family all the same, you know? And besides, he was directing most of his insults at Andromeda, who's my favorite cousin."

Lily vaguely remembered Sirius introducing them to a tall girl with thick black hair, warm brown eyes, and a Gryffindor Prefect badge on her chest last year. She had been very kind and funny, and Lily had liked her. Andromeda was in her seventh and final year at Hogwarts this year, and as Sirius noted with a tone of fright and pride all at once, that she was Head Girl.

"An's nice," piped up Violet. "She's a really good Head Girl too, organizing the special events and everything…"

"Yeah," said Sirius briefly. "Nita needs to lighten up a bit, though. No wonder Ted thinks she's a bit stiff."

"Nita?" Remus looked up questioningly and reluctantly from his essay. 

"Oh, pet name," he returned vaguely.

Lily smiled. "So…has James told you about his summer plans?"

"What summer plans?" they all asked.

She gave an accusing look at James, who shrugged.

"Hey, you were the first one I told."

"Oh, really? I'm so flattered."

"Well?" asked Sirius impatiently. "Go on then, James, tell us!"

"Mum's invited you all over my house for the summer," said James. "So she told me to ask all of you and get an answer as soon as possible."

"Well, of course we're going!" cried Jennifer, who was silent the whole time. 

"My mum's also invited you all over, too, this summer," said Violet shyly. "So, James, maybe we can do half and half."

"Cool!" exclaimed James enthusiastically. "I'd love to meet your parents."

"Thanks…" Violet blushed in embarrassment.

"Sounds like a great plan to me," approved Arabella. "Vi, James, go tell your parents that we'll be happy to come over, and thank them, too."

Just when things were actually getting friendly between Lily and James, and Arabella and Sirius, a loud voice roared through the common room, startling everyone.

"Potter! Black! Where are you? Quidditch practice right now!" It was Wood's sharp voice, as he scanned the room quickly with his voice.

Sirius groaned and James sighed.

"Oh, come on, Wood, give us a break, will you?" pleaded the former. "I mean, poor Georgie"—he jerked his thumb toward the Seeker—"nearly broke his neck last practice."

"That's because you sent a Bludger at him, Black," snapped Wood. "What about you, Potter? Any complaints to make like your friend?"

"Oh no, Captain," said James, smiling sweetly. "Why would I ever? I absolutely _adore _Quidditch practice! I mean, I practically live off Quidditch."

"Good, good." Wood was very pleased, beaming at his Chaser. He nodded to Lily and said, "Evans."

"Wood," acknowledged Lily.

"Good advice you gave Potter there, Evans. Now he's learning real teamwork."

From the background, James turned crimson and quickly left Gryffindor Tower with his broom to the Quidditch field.

"You're—welcome," said Lily, confused.

"Yes. Well, anyway…where's Potter? Poor boy must've already gone to the field. Yes, I like spirit." Wood gave a maniacal smile and left, dragging a resisting Sirius behind him.

"That was—interesting," commented Remus, as they left.

"Poor guys," said Peter with sympathy. "Once I ran into Wood, and he wasn't—er—having the greatest day."

Everyone flinched at what must have happened, as apparently, Peter did not want to talk about it just yet, still twitching at the memory.

"Wood's always been a bit in love with Quidditch," said Remus apologetically. "Don't know why…it's been in his blood, though. His dad nearly had my mum's head when they were in school because she missed the practice before the final game…she played Chaser," he added.

"Anyway, back to summer plans…" said Arabella hastily.

"We can't," Jennifer pointed out. "James isn't here."

"Oh, right."

"Let's play Truth or Dare!" said Lily excitedly.

Everyone groaned, and Jennifer said, "But, Lily, then we can't do any good ones since James and Sirius aren't here. We could always dare you or Arabella to kiss James and Sirius, respectively."

Both girls that were mentioned made a face at their friend, while Violet stifled a giggle.

"How about chess?" suggested Remus.

"Remus, you always want to play chess," said Arabella, rolling her eyes.

"That's because he always wins," added Jennifer reproachfully.

"I say we watch the Quidditch practice," said Lily, tired of watching her friends argue.

Peter's face brightened; he obviously didn't want to hear arguments any longer, either. _(A/N: Stupid git he is)_

So they all filed out into the empty stands and observed the Gryffindor Quidditch Team play. Wood, seeing his very own House members watching them with eager eyes, worked and pushed his team even harder than before, wanting to impress his fellow Gryffindors with their training so far.

"Wood!" cried James, clutching his sore arms. "Give us a break! My arms are about to fall off and break."

"Ah, don't be a wimp, Potter," shouted Wood.

Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed Cassia Newman's bat (she's the other Beater), and sent a Bludger flying over the Forbidden Forest.

Cassia grinned boyishly. "Nice one, Black."

"Oi! Black! You almost had my head there!" shouted Ben Volga, one of the other Chasers, who narrowly missed the flying black ball.

"S'ry, Ben," apologized Sirius, reddening. James snickered.

"Black, quit fooling around!" snapped Wood impatiently. "We want to give our fellow Gryffindors a good image here…" He looked over at where the Marauders and girls were sitting at.

Sirius looked over as well, and his eyes widened. "Wood! Why didn't you say so? I would've tried so much harder if we actually _knew _people were watching us! Hey, there's Remus and Peter, James. H-ey guys!" He waved.

Lily snorted from the stands. "Looks like Sirius finally figured out we've been sitting here for fifteen minutes."

"He was always an unusual case," said Jennifer, nodding in agreement, hiding a smirk.

"Poor kid," added Remus.

"Newman and Black, get your head back on earth!" screamed Wood. "We have the final game in one week, and you two are fooling around."

"Sorry, Jay," said Cassia, grinning, as she waved at Lily, Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet. "We were just having some fun."

"Yeah, well…" Wood trailed off, shaking his head. "C'mon, Cass, don't make me be soft on you." He smiled fondly at her.

Sirius' jaw dropped. "You two are going out?" he demanded, hiding a grin.

"Er—sort of," said Wood grimly. 

"We are," confirmed Cassia, kissing Wood in the front of the team.

Jason Wood was a very red Keeper the rest of the practice.

"I can't believe a girl can soften up Wood," said Arabella in awe, after practice was over.

"Yeah," said Sirius, still smirking at the news. "He was jealous when I took Cassia's bat."

"Wood is capable of _jealousy_?" said Lily, her eyes widening. "Besides Quidditch, I didn't know he cared about anything or anyone else."

"Oh, Wood's head-over-heels for Cassia," said James matter-of-factly. "It's been so obvious…he's asked her out last month."

"And you knew this all along and didn't tell me?" asked Sirius, pouting. "For all we knew, we could've sold the news to Rita Skeeter, the ditzy Hufflepuff second year."

"Well—er—" James blushed. "Once, when I was our equipment, I accidentally saw Wood and Cassia snogging behind his locker. Wood made me promise not to tell anyone."

"You can actually keep a promise?" asked Lily skeptically.

Remus snorted. "You know he only did it just so he wouldn't get kicked off the team."

"Hey, what happened to our Marauder oath?" exclaimed James indignantly.

"It went away," was the former's brief reply.

***

"Voldemort's getting stronger," whispered James in alarm, as he held up the _Daily Prophet._

"He's _what_?" demanded Sirius, turning white. "That nutter?"

James handed him the article with shaking hands.

****

A New Era of Dark

__

By Ian Harpchord

__

The Ministry is very sorry to report the fact that a new era of a Dark wizard is about to begin. This man fashions himself the name Lord Voldemort, and he has already begun to get some followers into the Dark Side.

As you all may know, our own Albus Dumbledore had defeated the latest Dark wizard, Grindelwald, in 1945. This Voldemort, as he calls himself, has captured many people's opinions about Muggle-borns. He claims that they should be rid of in our Wizarding world and that the purebloods rule again. 

"The bloke is crazy," commented one witch. "He's wanting to get rid of Muggle-borns, yet they're the ones who have been making our word a success for years after the defeat of Grindelwald. I say that this Voldemort is a fraud."

This probably explains why that there are so many Muggle deaths and disappearances for the last few weeks. A mad mob, calling themselves "Death Eaters", raided the Ministry of Magic headquarters and had announced that the Dark Lord will rise and will not fall.

Our Minister, Millicent Bagnold, is urging the magical community to remain calm. She claims that this is just another wizard who wishes to have his face on the paper and who won't, or can't, do anything drastic. But there are many doubts among everyone, because many of them believe that Voldemort has the right idea. He wants to get rid of Muggle-borns and anyone who dares to contradict him—but how will he do that? 

"Well, the Ministry agrees that he's a rather—odd person, but harmless," said Lily hopefully, as they finished reading the article.

"Yeah, but the Ministry has been wrong about a lot of things before," said James darkly. "They said that Grindelwald was an old fraud too…and look how he turned out to be. I think we _should _all be worried, instead of remaining calm. You saw how he threatened me at the beginning of the school year and said that he'd do anything to get me on 'his side'."

"Maybe he's the one that kills us," said Lily, frowning.

No one said anything. 

Everyone else in the Great Hall didn't seem to even notice the front-page article in the _Prophet_—except for the Slytherins, who were unnaturally giddy. 

"Their parents are probably part of those Death Eaters," said Violet unhappily.

"I agree," said an unknown voice. 

They all turned around to see Frank Longbottom, Alice Hart, and Andromeda Black glancing down at them, smiling slightly.

"Er—" James had nothing to say.

Andromeda nodded at Sirius. "Our whole family's a mess. They all believe that what this Voldemort is saying is true."

Sirius was outraged. "They BELIEVE the guy that threatened James twice?"

Frank looked at James quickly. "He threatened you?"

James shrugged. "Yeah. I didn't think it was such a big deal, though…"

"It is," said Alice urgently. "You must tell Professor Dumbledore about your meetings with Voldemort. He's a serious one, him. He means what he says."

"Your parents are tracking him down," added Frank.

"They are?"

"Well, yes. The Aurors were sent by old Bagnold, who doesn't believe a word that anyone is saying about Voldemort being harmless."

"But she wrote that everyone should remain calm!"

"Ha! That wasn't her," said Andromeda, snorting. "That was the idiot who wrote this article—the Harpchord guy, or whatever is name is. He seems to think that he knows that he's talking about, writing all this trash down."

"So you think he's not just someone who seeks attention?" asked Lily in a hushed tone.

"Nope." Alice shook her head. "Dumbledore thinks he's something too—that's why he looks all worried at the staff table."

Frank grinned at her. "You were always observant, Alice."

__

"Were?" demanded Alice threateningly. "Don't you mean _are_?"

"Oh, of course," he faltered. "Yes—are, I mean."

Andromeda smirked. "Alice is the only one who can control Frank. Poor guy. He's in love with her." She shook her head gloomily.

"What about Ted?" asked Sirius slyly.

His cousin turned red. "What about him?"

"He snogs you ever hour of the day! You two are sick." He made a face.

"Aww…shut up, Sirius."

"With pleasure, Nita."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you get 'Nita' from 'Andromeda', but maybe that's just your way."

"Sirius is an oddball," said Arabella brusquely.

"They've had a bit of a—falling out," whispered Lily, so that only Andromeda could hear.

"What happened?"

"She caught Sirius in a total lip-lock with some Ravenclaw," she replied quietly.

Andromeda's dark eyes widened. "He cheated on her?"

Lily nodded sadly, looking over at where Arabella was still sulking, but glancing at Sirius now and then with hurt in her eyes.

"Poor girl. I didn't know my cousin could be so…" Andromeda couldn't find the words.

"Player-like?" suggested Lily.

"Yeah." She laughed. "So…who're you with?"

Lily turned red. "What makes you think I'm with anyone?"

"Well, a pretty and smart girl like you isn't single for very long. I see that you and James Potter hit it off quite nicely."

The redhead flushed. "Oh, stop, An. Potter's my enemy."

At this, the older Black raised an eyebrow. "Enemy? He doesn't seem to tick off any of the other girls here at Hogwarts." She smirked.

"An, Potter hexes people when he's bored, especially Snape, even though I hate the latter as well. He has the biggest ego in the world—yes, even larger than Sirius'—and he struts around the school with a stupid Snitch all the time. Git."

Andromeda burst out laughing. "Oh, Lils, give the boy a break. Everyone's an idiot at fourteen. Heck, everyone's an idiot at fifteen as well. He'll grow out of it. Besides, he looks like he's in love with you, seeing how James keeps looking your way every now and then."

Lily sighed. "That's what everyone says. I don't understand why."

"It's because it's true, Lily, dear. James is all over you, and the only reason you can't see this is because you're blind. You're overlooking his good qualities and only blaming him for shallow qualities that nearly every boy has at the age of fourteen or fifteen."

"He—" Lily shook her head. "Why does he show off all the time?"

"Lily…" Andromeda sighed in frustration. "Don't you see? He only shows off in front of _you. _Sure, he might show off here and there when you're not around, but it's mainly to impress you. He knows how you hate him so, so James wants to impress you with his talents so that you can like him."

"What—you mean, he does this because he _likes _me? Not because he's just an arrogant show-off?"

An laughed. "Oh, you're a funny girl, Evans. My answer is—of course, obviously! Though I do think James does cross the line sometimes…"

Lily snorted at the understatement, but didn't say anything.

"Why, you do look like you're having a fine time with my cousin, Flower," said Sirius kindly, as he glanced over his shoulder at the redhead.

"We're discussing Lily's love life," said An, laughing.

Lily's three friends suddenly scooted over. "Ooh…so, what'dya find out, Medie?" they asked eagerly.

"That Lily despises James Potter."

Jennifer snorted. "Nothing new there. That's so old news. What else?"

"That's about it. Lily was quite surprised to find out that James showed off most of the time because she was around."

Arabella chuckled. "Well, it's about time she found out reason number one!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Lily in mock outrage. "I'm still here, you know!"

"We know, Lil," said Arabella.

"That's why we're saying this," added Violet, grinning.

Lily sighed. "Oh, Vi, I have no idea what has happened to you. You're a different person than last year!"

"Good or bad?"

"Well, you would be good if you stopped teasing me about Potter."

"Nope, sorry, Lils, but that's something that I must do until you realize that you like James," said Violet, smirking. "Of course, I don't tease as much as Bella and Jen—"

"So true," agreed Lily.

"—but I **do **tend to go overboard a bit sometimes. So I'll give you a break."

"D'you still like Peter now?" asked Jennifer casually.

Violet blushed. What was she to say? No, I'm sorry, Jenny, but Peter's too stupid and bumbling for me. Would she dare? After all, Peter didn't catch her interest anymore. Of course, she never thought of him as "eye-candy", as most girls like to say, but she still liked him all the same. Now Violet realized that the "like" she had for him was pity—pity that he wasn't as smart, popular, or good-looking as the other three Marauders. She felt terrible for ever deceiving him so.

"No, I don't like him anymore."

The three girls breathed a sigh of relief, while Andromeda listened with curiosity. 

"Thank the Lord," praised Lily. "We thought you'd go daft and elope after Hogwarts with Peter. Violet Pettigrew…too chunky, if you ask me."

"Now, Violet Diggory sounds romantic," noted Arabella with a suggestive hint.

Violet now laughed uncomfortably, while Lily and Jennifer stared at her.

"I thought you were going out with him!" exclaimed Jennifer.

"Are you kidding me? He's an arrogant derk."

"Who's an arrogant derk?" asked James curiously, ending his conversation with Frank.

"Diggory," was the succinct reply.

"I knew you'd come to your senses to know," said Remus, nodding in approval.

Sirius didn't say anything, but his cheeks turned rather pink. _Maybe this is another chance for me to ask Arabella for forgiveness, _he thought.

"Christ! Is Sirius actually looking serious for once?" teased Andromeda, tugging at her cousin's locks.

All the girls looked at her jealously. One even had the audacity to say, "Hey! Hands off my man, girl!"

Medie snickered. "Don't worry girl," she called back, "I won't take your man. He's my cousin, after all."

At this comment, both Narcissa and Bellatrix shot nasty looks at their sister's directions. None of the Blacks really liked Andromeda, because for one thing, she was a Gryffindor, and for another, she didn't despise Muggle-borns and was just like "that Sirius".

"Ooh, Narci and Trix are shooting daggers at you, Mede," acknowledged Sirius. He carefully avoided calling Bellatrix "Bella", as most people did, since he didn't want to offend Arabella.

"Oh, well. They're just jealous that I have Ted and they don't have anyone but lousy Slytherin bums." Mede continued to bunch on a piece of toast, oblivious to the incredulous stares she was getting.

"You do know that Narci and Trix hate you, right?" asked Sirius tentatively.

"Of course, it's so obvious. I know they're not jealous of Ted, either," she added, seeing Sirius' dubious expression. "They think that he's lousy because he's Muggle-born. What a bunch of crap!"

"Yeah, well, breakfast is over, and we have to get to classes," said Frank hastily. "We'll see you around guys."

"Don't forget to tell Dumbledore about Voldemort," added Alice.

James nodded, sighing. _Why does everything happen to me?_

-

"Yes, James, I'm very glad that you've chosen to speak to me," said Dumbledore gravely. "Voldemort will gain power, and he will try to gain your support. But whatever choices you make, Mr. Potter, I hope that you can make the right ones."

James nodded and looked at Lily, who was next to him. 

"Sir," she began, rather nervously, "would you think that, perhaps, Voldemort was the one who killed James and I?" She wrung her hands.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "It could be a good possibility, but one does not know for sure. You may go now."

Lily and James left, not hearing Dumbledore groan and say, "Dear God, I think they've figured it out."

"Dumbledore thinks that Voldemort is the one who killed us," said James at once, heading toward Gryffindor Tower.

"He did say that," pointed out Lily.

"I know, but it was obvious, by the way of his voice, that he knew it, too."

"Have we actually had a normal conversation?" mused Lily in mock surprise.

James pretended to gasp. "Oh my God, I think we just did!" He said in a high-pitched, falsetto voice.

"What are you laughing about?"

They both turned around to see Wood and Cassia clinging to each other, smiling amusedly at the supposed enemies being decent to each other.

"Oh, hello, Wood," said James in an offhand voice. 

"I see you and Cassia have been keeping each other company," said Lily suggestively.

Wood turned bright red. "We were just—er—strolling."

"Yeah, just walking and talking by the lake," said Cassia with warm cheeks, as she winked at Lily.

"When's the big day?" teased James.

"Next August," said Wood sarcastically.

"Oh! Two months after you graduate from Hogwarts, eh?"

"You got that right, Potter."

"I thought you didn't like James," said Cassia to Lily in surprise.

Lily shrugged. "I don't like him. I hate him."

The fifth year looked at her in surprise. "Are you serious? Then why are you guys talking to each other like old friends?"

"We are?" exclaimed Lily in horror. "Oh, my reputation, what have I _done_?"

Cassia snickered. "Aww…c'mon, Lily, James isn't that bad. He's cute and funny and sweet."

"You have a boyfriend," said Lily pointedly. 

"So true," she sighed. "If I didn't have old Jason 'ere, I would certainly chase after James. But he's a hard one to catch, hey? I hear that nearly all the girls at Hogwarts go after him, but he'll only settle for one girl." She looked at Lily, smiling knowingly. "The poor guy's in love with you, Lil, give him a break for once."

Lily was in shock. "You really did not mean that."

Cassia shrugged. "So what if I did?"

As Lily and James went through the Fat Lady's portrait, Lily collapsed onto an armchair by the fireplace.

"You're not that tired, are you?" asked James.

"Leave me alone," was her only reply. He shrugged and went upstairs to the boys' dormitory.

Thoughts were racing through Lily's brain.

__

He only shows off in front of you…

__

He'll only settle for one girl…you…

The poor guy's in love with you, Lil…

James is usually an all-around nice guy…

What did Lily think of James now…now that she knew the truth?

__

(A/N: I could have left you in suspense…but I'm such a nice person who rarely leaves cliffhangers [I hate those, don't you?], so I've decided to continue the chapter…)

***

"Full marks, Ms. Evans!" cried Wickham, as Lily performed various jinxes, hexes, and counter-curses in front of him.

Lily beamed proudly and took a seat, squeezing a pale and white-faced Arabella by the hand reassuringly. Arabella's turn was next.

As Bella performed her practical exam, James was trying to catch Lily's eye. He had forgotten about Lily for about three months, but for some reason, he couldn't handle "Lily withdrawal", as he called it. So he was staring at Lily the whole time while Arabella did her exam. Sirius was leaning against his chair, oblivious to the staring female eyes on him, while Remus and Peter watched Bella's exam carefully.

After some time, James had become addicted to Lily's thick, dark red hair and didn't hear at first when Wickham called his name.

"Mr. Potter, if you would be so kind as to do your exam now," said Wickham, amused.

James jumped. "Oh—er—of course, Professor. Sorry 'bout that."

He plaintively ignored Sirius' snickers and Remus' knowing smile.

At the end of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the fourth years were given a break for lunch. Everyone crowded in the Great Hall, still red-faced and shaking from their exams.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Divination tomorrow," said Jennifer, breathing a sigh of relief. "Only two more subjects to go."

"I didn't find it that bad," admitted Arabella, still sweaty from Wickham's penetrating blue-eyed gaze as he examined her wrist movement and tone of voice.

"It was awful," moaned Violet. "Wickham was staring at me…and I did the Disarming Spell wrong. I said _'Expelligarmis' _instead of _'Expelliarmus'._ It was so humiliating and I felt like an idiot."

"We all make mistakes," said Peter softly, and Violet felt badly at once for ever thinking him stupid and worthless.

"Thanks, Peter," she said quietly and went back to poking at her food again.

"Aww…Peter has a girl!" chanted Sirius enthusiastically. 

Sirius found the fact that the last two exams were quite relieving and not as stressful as the last ones he took. He was fair at Care of Magical Creatures, in which Professor Kettleburn thought he was very gifted in. And in Divination, Sirius was an expert liar, making up terrible horror stories about tragic occurrences, much to Trelawney's delight. He'd say that he would have a nosebleed on Monday, get into a brawl with James on Tuesday, get a five out of ten on his Potions essay on Wednesday, and so forth.

"I hate Divination," said Lily sadly. "Trelawney's always given me funny looks whenever I told her that I was going to pass every single end-of-the-year exams this year."

James gave her a funny look and Sirius started laughing.

"Lily," said Remus, trying not to laugh, "haven't you figured out Trelawney's secret yet? You're supposed to tell her some bad news about yourself, like maybe how you're _not _going to pass the exams this year, but will fail. She likes it when we predict horrific news about ourselves. You can always get into detail and say that you will die a tragic death involving one of the Unforgivables."

Lily snorted. "Well, at least that would be true."

"I can't believe that Lily Evans, smartest witch in our year, hasn't figured something that obvious," said James sarcastically.

She glared at him. "Well, at least I can pass Charms."

James sighed. Here we go again. Charms. 

__

Evans can never think of anything original, can she? he asked himself. _I mean, seriously, she's so competitive._

Sirius had voiced his thoughts. "You know, Lily, you can come up with some new insults for Jamie-boy. I mean, seriously, you always mention Charms every time he smart-mouths you."

"Well, in all the other classes, he's even with me," said Lily snootily. "So why should I bother? Charms is my best subject, and I have the best wand for it."

"And I have the best wand for Transfiguration," said James smugly.

"You don't need to act so stuck-up about it, Potter."

"Yeah? Well, Transfiguration is cooler than Charms."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Well, it's better to play pranks when you're better at Charms."

Lily had struck a chord. James didn't know what else to say. She knew that pranks were one of the most important things for James, so she had to say something.

James sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win."

"Have we stopped arguing now?" asked Remus.

"Yeah."

"About the summer…" began Violet.

"We go over my house first, right?" asked James, his interest perked up slightly.

"Er—sure, that's the plan."

"Great! Mum already knows, and she's really excited to have you girls over."

"What about us Maraudies?" asked Sirius, pouting.

James rolled his eyes. "Please, Sirius, my mum said that she's had you over my house long enough to be excited anymore."

"Whatever. I really wish that I could invite you guys over my house, but…well, you know my family." He looked awkward.

Everyone nodded, feeling sympathetic for Sirius. They all agreed that Sirius had the worst family, and that they would stick up for him no matter what.

"I can't stand stupid bloody Trelawney," said James, groaning.

"You have to humor her," said Sirius matter-of-factly. "Here, let me show you amateurs how it should be done." He screwed up his face and made a pitiful puppy dog pout. "Oh, Professor Trelawney, I think I see death before me! I will be stunned by my cousin, Bellatrix Black, and then fall through the archway of death! Oh, dear, what shall I do? Please help me!" He pretended to let out great sobs that alarmed many of the fellow students.

They all rolled their eyes. Sirius was a seriously (no pun intended) pathetic sight at that very moment.

-

Lily spotted her family at King's Cross and went over to hug them. Mrs. Evans hugged Lily tightly while Mr. Evans simply beamed at his daughter proudly. Petunia was skulking near the car as usual.

"We're so proud of you, Lily!" exclaimed Mrs. Evans through tears. "You got the highest grades in your exams! Congratulations!"

"Yes, Lily, I'm so proud to have such a clever daughter," said Mr. Evans, smiling and nodding.

James went over and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"Lily's going to be at your house this summer?" asked Mr. Evans, grinning in amusement. "Don't do something rash now."

"Steve!" His wife was scandalized. "What are you trying to put into these children's heads?"

"I was just joshing, dear," he replied, pouting.

Violet had come over too, to introduce her parents for the first time. 

Mr. Walker had curly brown hair and roguish hazel eyes that danced with mirth when he saw Lily and James together. He was quite tall and had a genial air about him that made many witches smile dreamily at the sight of him.

Mrs. Walker had dirty blond hair in rifling waves. Her dark blue eyes sparkled as she laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder, proud to have a Gryffindor in the family again. After all, she had done her family shame by being Sorted into Slytherin, which, in their opinion, was a Dark House. But she didn't turn out to be a nutter who tried to take over the world, did she? Apparently not. And she had married a Gryffindor, which settled loose ends among the family members on her side.

"We'll keep in touch," said Mr. Walker, smiling at the Evans. 

Lily and James nodded awkwardly at each other, afraid to say anything, for they felt as though everyone was watching them. But as green eyes met hazel ones, there was a bond of understanding between them, and there was no need for words.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything and I own nothing

A/N: Hallelujah! I updated in **TWO **days! Can you believe the luck? Two days! Usually I take at least a week, or sometimes even a month to get one chapter going. Ah, it's probably because I practically have no life, staying at home with nothing to do. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

****

Again, I thank all my reviewers! You guys are so faithful! *smile* 


	17. Summer of Fourth Year

Summer of Fourth Year

Lily grabbed her trunk and her owl, Hannah, and stepped into her fireplace. Luckily her parents had gotten their fireplace connected to the Floo Network. She grabbed a handful of sparkling green powder from the mantelpiece and dropped it, and called out, "Potter Mansion!" 

She, her trunk, and her owl were spinning and swirling fast in a whirl of colors and places, until finally, she landed with a thump in the Potter's exquisite family room.

"Lily!" cried Mrs. Potter, hugging the tired girl. "How are you dear? James was so anxious to know when you'd be coming!"

"Where is he?" asked Lily groggily. She still didn't like the aftereffects of Floo traveling.

"Oh, he's upstairs in his room, getting ready," said Mrs. Potter, sighing. "He insisted on wearing his dress robes for some reason. He usually avoids wearing them."

"That's because he wants to impress Lily," said a gruff voice from behind them. Mr. Potter smiled benignly at Lily and shook her hand.

Suddenly, four great bounds were heard from the upper floor of the house, and minutes later, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Arabella pounced on Lily's arrival.

"We were waiting for you!" the latter shrieked, hugging her best friend tightly. "Jen and Vi are getting here later, since they have plans."

"Where's James?" Lily asked, yet again.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What, no hello, and you're asking for Jamie?" He smirked.

Lily whacked him. "Oh, shut it, Black! No, seriously, where is Potter?"

"He's indisposed," said Remus solemnly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering, "Boys."

"James is getting ready," informed Peter, seeing that his other two friends weren't giving Lily an easy time. "He's trying to put on his green dress robes, but they're a little too—er—small. He's tried to use magic, but we managed to get him away from his wand."

"Has he?" said Mrs. Potter in exasperation. "I'd better go help him out…really, making such a fuss!" She winked at Lily and went upstairs, clutching her wand. 

"Why does he want to put on dress robes?" wondered Lily aloud.

Sirius burst out laughing. "Oh, don't be so think, Flower. You know why our dear Jamsie wants to get all dressed up. It's because of you."

"Why, I don't care if he's dressed up or not," said Lily in tones of surprise.

Arabella rolled her eyes and whispered to Sirius, "She still doesn't get it."

"Made up now, have we?" Lily raised one arched eyebrow.

Her best friend blushed. "Oh—we're getting along better."

"After she dumped Diggory," added Sirius in a lower tone, so that only Lily could hear.

"We'll help you take your trunk up," offered Remus. 

Lily thanked him, and everyone lugged up the heavy trunk, while Arabella carried Hannah. They took it up to the closest room and laid down the trunk and owl. Lily saw that she had it to herself, as no one else's things were up there.

"We all get our own bedrooms this time, huh?"

Sirius smirked. "Bella tried to share it with you again, but Mrs. Potter refused to have more than one person to a room. Said she didn't want to be forcing less space for us."

Just then, James had entered the room with his hair as untidy as ever, and wearing green dress robes that brought out the few tints of green in his eyes. He grinned and waved at Lily.

"Oh, hey, Lils," he called.

"I see you've dressed, Jamie," said Sirius innocently. 

James whacked him on the back of his head. "Shut up, Sirius."

"What did I do?" He put on a puppy face.

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Please, Sirius, no one falls for that anymore…except for the idiot girls at Hogwarts."

"Even you don't like it anymore, Bellsies?" Sirius pouted.

She laughed. "Oh, I give in. I swear, Sirius, that pout of yours is totally irresistible."

He smiled triumphantly. "Ha! So the girls at Hogwarts aren't the only ones that fall for my charm."

"You have no charm, Sirius," said Remus, laughing. "James takes up all your glory."

"Nah, I say we're even, Remus," said James evenly.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" asked Lily, bored of the conversation.

"Zonko's," said Sirius at once.

"Gladrag's," shot back Arabella.

"Oh, dear God, here we go again," muttered James, rolling his eyes. "How about Quality Quidditch Supplies?"

"No more Quidditch!" they both shouted.

Lily sighed. "We could go swimming at the nearest pool," she suggested.

"Hey, that's a great idea! We have a pool in our backyard," said James, relieved that Arabella and Sirius had stopped arguing.

"How big?" asked Bella suspiciously.

"Er—fair size."

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius practically shouted. "Jamie's pool is HUGE! The deepest is ten feet!"

"Nine," was James' modest reply.

"Really?" Lily was amazed. "Well…let's get going then!"

"Er—Lils?" Arabella looked around awkwardly. "I didn't bring my bathing suit."

Lily's smile faded. "Neither did I."

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all coughed, shaking their heads.

James grinned. "Well, we can go to Gladrag's today and you can all get one."

"Oh yeah." Arabella looked cheerful again.

"How are we going to get there?" asked Lily curiously. "Floo Powder?"

"Well, what else? We can't get there by a Portkey, we're not old enough to Apparate, and broomsticks would take too long." 

"But what about Jennifer and Violet?" asked Remus doubtfully.

"Oh, we have to wait for them," said Lily at once.

"All right." James nodded in agreement. "In the mean time…"

"We play Truth or Dare!" squealed Arabella.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "I thought you didn't like Truth or Dare."

"Oh…" She smiled evilly. "I think we are able to play _now_…"

Lily didn't even ask.

"All right then." She turned to her best friend. "Lily, truth or dare?"

She thought for a moment. "Dare."

"Kiss James," said Arabella lazily, without much apparent thought.

Sirius and Remus gave her appreciative smiles, and she nodded, grinning back.

Lily sighed. She knew it was coming, and she may as well get it over with. She went over to a very red James and kissed him.

Sirius cheered. "Go Flower!"

"Bella, truth or dare?" queried Lily innocently.

"Truth," said Arabella, not wanting to kiss Sirius.

"Do you still have feelings for Sirius Black?"

The room was silent. Everyone turned to look at Arabella, who had flushed pink.

"I-I—yes," she said, with a tone of finality.

Sirius stared at her in wonder. "You're—you're serious," he choked out.

"No, you are." A smile tugged at her lips.

He grinned at her. "Go out with me?"

Arabella sighed. "Oh—all right. But only if you promise me one thing: try controlling your hormones so you don't leave me heartbroken again."

"I promise, Bellsies, with my heart and soul…forever."

And then—with a bit of encouragement from their best friends—they kissed, for the first time in almost a year. Everyone smiled and cheered as Arabella and Sirius broke apart, breathless.

"Finally!" roared James in approval.

"Oh, Bella!" Lily hugged her friend, tears rolling down her eyes.

"Oh, gosh, what have we missed?" Jennifer and Violet came into the room, puzzled at the crying and laughing.

"Bella and Sirius have made up!" screamed Lily, hugging her two other friends. "After so long!"

Both girls cheered as they congratulated a blushing Arabella.

"My God, how did you do it?" asked Violet, impressed. "After so many attempts!"

"By a simple game of Truth and Dare, my dear Vi," said James, sniggering. "It was all Lily's idea, too."

"Yes—thank you, Lils," said Sirius, grasping her hand eagerly. "You've no idea how much this means to me. I swear, Bellsies and I will make it up to you by getting you and Jamie together…"

"What?" cried Lily, drawing her hand from Sirius' grasp. "You will not do anything of the such!"

"Of course we won't, Lily," reassured Arabella, after giving her boyfriend a glare. "We wouldn't think of it."

"Bella, you told me just this morning that—"

"What?" demanded Lily sharply.

"As much as I'd love to stay and see arguing," said Jennifer in a droll and sarcastic voice, "I think that we came here for a reason, and that was to NOT hear arguing all summer."

"Whoever made that promise?" asked James curiously. Without waiting for an answer, he said hastily, "Actually, we were planning to swim in my pool."

"You have a pool?" gasped Violet.

James nodded. "Did you two bring your bathing suits?"

Jennifer gave him a funny look. "Of course not, James!"

"Well, we're going to go to Gladrag's for bathing suits for Lily and Arabella…"

"I prefer you to buy a bikini," interrupted Sirius, winking.

"Oh, brother," moaned Lily, rolling her eyes.

"MUM!" hollered James. "Can we go to Gladrag's to get a couple of bathing suits? The girls want to go swimming!"

"Oh, James, why in such a hurry?" said Mrs. Potter, coming in. "All right, then, let me get my purse."

Half an hour later, they all finished their shopping (Sirius was severely disappointed when none of the girls bought a bikini), and were heading to the nearest shop from where they could use the fireplace.

"Oh, no," groaned Lily, "it's Snape."

It wasn't only Snape; it was the whole gang of Slytherins and their parents. Mrs. Potter stiffened as she saw Mrs. Black simpering to her two daughters, Narcissa and Bellatrix. 

"What are _they _doing here?" hissed Sirius venomously.

"Sirius!" Mrs. Black smiled at she saw him. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just shopping with my friends, Aunt Tricia," he spat.

Mrs. Black didn't look at all taken aback by her nephew's attitude; in fact, she sneered at him. 

"Why, hello, Mrs. Potter," she said coldly.

"Mrs. Black," said Mrs. Potter shortly. 

Mrs. Black's gaze fell onto the girls. "Since when did your family befriend Mudbloods, half-bloods, and half-Squibs?" she asked rudely.

Mrs. Potter reddened. "For your information, Tricia, they are neither of those descriptions."

"Oh?" Her gaze then fell on Violet. "You're Evelyn Thatch's daughter, aren't you? You look like your mother all over again, girl." To their great surprise, she actually smiled. "Your mother was a good friend of mine, she was."

Violet looked affronted. "Yes, ma'am," she said respectfully.

"What name do you take? Violet Thatch?"

"Violet Walker, ma'am," she replied, horrified at the very thought of having a name like Violet Thatch.

Mrs. Black's warm expression changed. She glared coldly at her. "Eve give you that lousy name of Walker, did she? Well, well, she has changed since I've last seen her. How is your mother?"

"She's fine, ma'am."

"Has she punished you?"

"F-For what?" stuttered Violet nervously.

"For being a Gryffindor, of course." She stated it like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"N-no."

"_No? _And why ever not?"

"Mum's proud of me being a Gryffindor, ma'am." Violet was now an extremely shade of red. Mrs. Potter glanced nervously at her.

Mrs. Black sighed. "Not the Evelyn I used to know. Does she love that no-good father of yours?"

Violet couldn't stand the questions any more. "My mother can be whatever she pleases to be, thank you. My mum loves my dad, so you needn't say anything ill about her at all!"

Everyone was stunned. Only Lily and Sirius were grinning like there was no tomorrow, while Mrs. Black's lips tightened. 

"We'd better go now," said Mrs. Potter hurriedly, ensuring that there was no need for another world war, "It's nice meeting you, Tricia."

"Indeed," said Mrs. Black wryly, as she steered her daughters away.

"You really needn't be anxious, Potter," said Mrs. Snape, sniggering. "After all, you Potters have always been quite powerful."

"I'm sure," said Mrs. Potter coolly. "Come along now, dears, we don't need to stick around _here _any longer."

When they got back to the Potter Mansion, Mrs. Potter collapsed into the nearest chair and sighed. 

Mr. Potter looked worriedly at her. "Are you all right, Sarah?"

"I'm fine, Dan, I'm fine. We just met some—er—unfortunate people along the way."

"The Snapes and the Blacks," said James quickly.

Mr. Potter looked angry. "What did they do?"

"Nothing," said James truthfully. "Just made a few nasty comments about—" He looked over at the girls hesitantly.

"She called me a Mudblood, Jennifer a half-blood, and Arabella a half-Squib," provided Lily.

"It's all right, though," said Arabella at once. "I'm used to insults."

"People say you're a pureblood," said Sirius curiously.

"Well, my mum's a Squib," she said, without a trace of embarrassment.

"Who said all this?" thundered Mr. Potter, still furious.

"My aunt," said Sirius heavily.

The Potters gave him looks of great sympathy. 

"We'll be at the pool, Mum, Dad," said James quietly, as he motioned the others to follow him. 

***

"I hate my family," said Sirius, as they got comfortable within the pool. "You saw them today. Go ahead, go say something bad about them."

"Well, I won't pretend I like them," said Lily boldly. "But they're not too bad, I guess."

"Lily, they're terrible," corrected Sirius bluntly.

"All right, they are," admitted Lily.

"Sirius, stop moping," ordered Arabella. "Summer is for fun, not for moaning and groaning."

Lily suddenly gasped.

"What?" Bella looked at her strangely. "Did I say something wrong, Lils?"

"Our O.W.L.s are coming up this year!"

"So?"

"_So? _They decide our whole future, practically. We should study right away."

"Are you mad?" exclaimed James in alarm. Studying during the summer did not appeal to him. "We have the whole year!"

"It's only a matter of time," said Lily, feeling mortified at not remembering. 

"Lily," said Remus gently, "calm down. Life isn't for studying, you know. You need to have some fun in life."

"Oh, really?"

"Of course."

"Lily," said James seriously, "Violet and I will give you your best summer yet. We'll take you to every place in the Wizarding world, and you'll soon be fresh and ready to start our fifth year at Hogwarts."

Lily smiled. "You seem to make it sound so easy, Potter."

"But of course. I am a Marauder, after all, and we Marauders know our fun. We promise, Lily, that you'll have the best summer yet."

"Yes, Lils, we promise," chorused everyone else.

"But—" She thought for a minute. "All right, then. But we'd better still get time to do our holiday homework."

"Well, obviously. McGonagall would bury me alive if I didn't do my homework, and Hurst would give me a month's worth of detention."

"We're trying to break the detention record, James," said Sirius, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Oh, of course. We always welcome detention. Never mind then, I'm skiving off Potions homework."

"Well, I'm not," said Lily rather huffily.

"Then don't. I don't care what you do."

"Lily," said Arabella, exasperated. "Just enjoy yourself, will you?"

Lily sighed. "Oh, fine, I'll take a break. Happy now?"

"Yes."

Sirius suddenly grabbed Arabella from behind, and the two went plunging into the water, laughing. He took her face gently in his hands and kissed her passionately. The two were oblivious to the rest of their friends goggling at them.

"That is disgusting," commented Jennifer, wrinkling her nose.

"As if you don't do enough of it with Remus, Jen," teased Lily, secretly happy since her friends were snogging again.

"We don't…_snog_," said Jennifer matter-of-factly. "It's so—"

"—not us," finished Remus.

James snorted. "Yeah, yeah, it's not like the rest of us care how you two kiss, anyway."

"Enjoying yourself, I see, Mr. Potter," said a cold voice.

Everyone was startled and turned around to see Voldemort beaming at them with his hungry red eyes. Sirius and Arabella let go of each other quickly and glanced at Lily and James.

"What do you want?" spat James angrily.

"What do I want? Well, Potter, since you've told me that you'll never join me, I have no choice but to kill you."

"What have I ever done to you?"

"By marrying the Mudblood and having the child that will destroy my reign of dark," said Voldemort evenly. "So if I kill you and the Mudblood, no one can destroy me."

Lily and James glanced at each other, panic in their eyes. They were going to be killed by this nutter, and they couldn't even use magic to defend themselves, since magic was not to be used during the holidays. Lily closed her eyes and was ready for the blow. She had a short life, and a great one as well. She just wanted to say good-bye to her friends and family before she left the world.

Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Potter had come outside to check on them and to bring them some refreshments. Voldemort's eyes widened as he saw them.

Mrs. Potter dropped the eight glasses of lemonade she held on a silver platter. "Voldemort!" she hissed.

Mr. Potter glared. "Good afternoon, Tom. Lovely day, isn't it?"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Potter and Potter…how lovely." He sneered. "I am here to kill your son and future daughter-in-law."

James' parents exchanged looks of great surprise.

"What?" exclaimed Mrs. Potter. "Kill James? And—his future _wife_? Are you mad?"

Voldemort snorted. "I am not. Now hand over your son, or you will be dying along with him."

"MUM!" screamed James. "No, don't sacrifice yourself, NO!"

Mr. Potter looked gravely at James. "James Henry Potter, your mother and I have brought you into this world, and we're going to keep you in this world. We've already lived a good life here, and I want you to, too."

Lily's insides lurched. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were going to get themselves killed—for her and James!

"No, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, don't!" she cried sharply. "It's—it's all a trap."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "Quiet, Evans."

"No! You're just a lousy, no good bum who thinks you can take over the world! Well, you're not! And I'm not going to allow it. That's right, kill me instead."

James' eyes widened. "Lily, no! If you kill Lily, you'll have to kill me, too."

"And me," said Sirius.

"And us," said everyone else.

"You're making this too easy." Voldemort grinned and raised his wand. _"AVADA KED—"_

__

"Stupefy!" cried Mr. Potter.

__

"Protego!" shouted Mrs. Potter.

Voldemort fell backwards and his face narrowed. "You'll pay for this." He left with a whisk of his cloak.

Everyone went in stunned silence. Lily and James wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, because it was their fault that Voldemort even bothered to come. Oh, why did they have to get married?

"It's time you get back inside," said Mrs. Potter quietly.

One by one, they slowly crawled out of the pool, dripping and shivering. Lily and James avoided eye contact and slowly dressed and went up to their separate rooms.

"Lils?" It was Arabella, and she looked at Lily with concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Bella," said Lily groggily.

"Lily Evans, I've been friends with you for five years now, and I know when something's not right. Now what is it?"

Lily sighed. "I just feel so guilty for having you guys in danger just because of James and I…"

"Lily, don't feel sorry," Arabella replied firmly. "We'll be by your side forever."

"Really?" She smiled brightly. "You mean that, Bells?"

"Of course, Lils. You're my best friend."

"Aww…are we interrupting something here?"

Sirius was standing by the doorway of Lily's room, dragging a resisting James Potter behind him. 

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Sirius."

James grinned. "Yeah, Sirius, shut up."

Sirius stuck his tongue out, and his eyes widened suddenly. He whispered to James, "It."

James looked alarmed as well and both of them rushed out of the room, grabbed Remus and Peter, and went into James' room, shutting the door behind with a slam.

"Do we really want to know?" said Lily amused.

"Nope," replied Arabella, shaking her head helplessly.

-

"We're done," said James gleefully, his voice suddenly hoarse. "We're _done_! Come on fellows, we have something to celebrate about!"

Remus laughed, as James did a jig in the air. 

"Let's see if it works first, though," he said seriously.

James screwed up his eyes in concentration, and a faint "pop" was heard. Then, a moment later, a magnificent pure white stag took his place. The other three Marauders' eyes widened with awe and amazement, as they bent down to pat the majestic stag.

Sirius then followed and changed into a black dog. Remus laughed at this, and rubbed his belly and under his ears. Sirius the dog barked and wagged his tail with a friendly gesture.

"Sh! Sirius, everyone will hear you," hissed Remus testily.

Peter then, with extreme difficulty, managed to turn into a rat. James and Sirius were pleased at this, and chased the frightened Peter around in James' spacious room, with Sirius bouncing and James prancing.

When everyone changed back, they were startled to see tears in Remus' eyes.

"Are you all right, Remus?" asked James worriedly.

Remus gave them a watery smile. "This has got to be the best day of my life, guys. Are you sure you want to break the law just for me?"

At this, both James and Sirius wrapped their arms around Remus in a brotherly hug, while Peter watched awkwardly. No one seemed to notice his hesitation, however.

"We'll stand by your side forever, Remus," said James solemnly.

"Forever," echoed Sirius in agreement.

"We should come up with nicknames for ourselves," said Peter suddenly. "You know, to make a mark of ourselves."

"Peter?" said Sirius, grinning.

"Yeah?" His worst fears were nearly confirmed.

"That's a brilliant idea! I vote myself as—um—"

"Padfoot," supplied James helpfully.

"Yeah! And James is Prongs."

"Remus is Bushtail," added Sirius, trying not to laugh.

"WHAT? I vote for Moony."

"Cool. Pete, you're Wormtail."

"All right," agreed the small boy.

"Together, we're Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs!" cried James, grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"And we're the mischief-makers of Hogwarts," continued Sirius.

"And will never be separated no matter what," added Remus.

"Even when James marries Lily."

James whacked Peter in the back of the head at that comment, but only halfheartedly. 

"Aww…shut it, Peter!"

The four of them laughed. However, none of them knew how much they would suffer in the incoming years. Two will die, one will become a traitor, and the last one will only have memories of the "good old days" that they shared, but without a trace of mischief in any of his thoughts.

***

The girls weren't at all curious as to what the boys were up to lately. In fact, they didn't even care at all—they knew that they were probably planning another new prank on Snape, so what was the use of wondering? They were, however, interested in the Marauders' funny new nicknames that they had started using that summer.

The Marauders had not told the girls about their Animagus identities. For one thing, they knew that Lily would nag them and say that they'd end up in Azkaban. For another, they were afraid that Jennifer might blame Remus on leading them off to no good.

However, their stay at James' house flew by, and soon enough, they were all packing and getting ready for the leave to Violet's house. All six of them, excluding Violet and James of course, had written to their respected homes by owl mail, saying that they would be at Violet's house for the rest of the summer. Mrs. Walker had promised the parents that she would bring them to Diagon Alley the week before school started, to buy their school supplies.

Violet was terribly embarrassed when they all stood in front of the fireplace. Her home wasn't at all like James' mansion, which was large and comfortable, and was afraid that her friends would disown her. So she prepared a speech for them before they all left for her house.

"Look, my house isn't exactly great…" she began, but they all protested and told her that they didn't care at all what her house was. Violet was relieved and took a handful of Floo Powder from the container on a nearby table, and cried,

"Walker residence!"

They all followed her, and soon fell onto the floor of a medium sized family room, not too big, but not too small. It was quite spacious, and Lily felt at home at once.

"There you are, Violet, dear," said Mrs. Walker, smiling at them all. "Come on in, kids. Violet, you must introduce your friends to me."

So Violet bashfully introduced each and every one of them (Mrs. Walker had agreed wholeheartedly when Arabella made a statement about Lily and James being a couple).

"And you're all in Gryffindor?" she queried in awe.

They nodded, feeling a sort of pride bursting inside of them.

"That's wonderful! I've always wanted to be in Slytherin, but, well, I guess the Sorting Hat didn't listen to my pleas." She laughed nervously.

As if on cue, Mr. Walker rambled in, saw Violet and her friends, and hugged his daughter and grinned at her friends.

"Ah, so you're the famous Lily Evans and James Potter," he said, smiling widely. "Yes, I've heard all about you two."

Lily and James looked at each other, and then at a guilty-looking Violet standing off in a corner. They raised their eyebrows at her, and she blushed.

"They're going to get married," stated Sirius, nodding seriously.

"Oh, is that so?" Mr. Walker laughed.

Everyone relaxed from then on. Mr. Walker had a nice, cheerful laugh, bubbly and meaningful. Peter even had the audacity to smile at him weakly from his nervous disposition.

"Well, let's get settled then," said Mrs. Walker briskly. "Violet, you can share your room with one of your girlfriends, and two of your other girlfriends can stay in one of our guest rooms." A pause. "Boys, I'm afraid the four of you will have to share one room. But no worries, it's quite roomy, I'm sure the four of you fellows will fit nicely…"

"We don't mind," said Remus politely, and the other three Marauders nodded.

"I'm sharing a room with Lils," said Arabella at once. "No offense, Jen."

"None taken," said Jennifer, grinning. "You two are best friends, after all."

"Glad you understand, Jenny."

So the eight of them trouped upstairs and went into their respected rooms. Lily and Arabella hauled their trunks into the smaller guest room, while Violet and Jennifer went into Violet's room. The boys took the larger guest room.

"This room is so nice," whispered Lily in awe, as she stared at the baby blue room with a beautiful sparkling rainbow on it, that really flashed as the sunlight hit it.

"It's heavenly," agreed Arabella, sighing in content. "Violet's house is so nice."

The boys were also very pleased with their room. 

"It's very large—even larger than Prong's room—and it's not too girlie," said Sirius, looking at the room up and down. 

"And it even has a book of pranks," added James, staring at _1000 Jokes and Pranks._

"Oh, old Snivelly will never be the same," sighed Sirius dreamily.

"I'll get my mum to invite you guys and the girls over next summer," said Remus thoughtfully.

"You guys can come over my house, too," piped up Peter.

Sirius looked awkward. "Gosh, I really wish I could invite you and the girls over my house, but my dear old mum"—he scowled fiercely—"is rather peculiar about certain people. She'll never accept any of you…and for stupid reasons too. Regulus always haunts me because he says that I made friends with Muggle-borns, half-breeds, half-Squibs, and our family rivals."

"We're your family rivals?" said James in amazement.

"Yeah, or so my parents say. They're all idiots though, mate, so don't believe a word they say."

"Dinner is ready!" called Mrs. Walker, and the four boys bounded down the stairs, eager for their second favorite hobby—eating.

Lily found out that Mrs. Walker was a exceptional cook; it was light and airy, melting into their mouths like ice cream. She had made baked potatoes, fried chicken, sweet pea soup, a variety of pies, and a scrumptious, plump chocolate cake. Even Jennifer, who had the smallest appetite of a human, had ate joyfully and with reverie.

"This is delicious, Mrs. Walker," mumbled Sirius, through a mouthful of apple pie. "I've never had such great food in years."

Lily looked positively revolted at his rudeness, but the Walkers merely chuckled.

"Why, thank you, Sirius," said Mrs. Walker appreciatively.

"I'm glad you appreciate food, Sirius," said Mr. Walker, nodding. "I love it too. The Hog's Head had a new sort of dessert come out; they gave out free samples. Have you tried them? They're delightful."

"The cherry creams!" exclaimed Sirius eagerly. "Yes, yes, they were awesome!"

James laughed at his best friend. "I must compliment the potatoes, Mrs. Walker," he said sincerely. "My mum could never make baked potatoes. Would you mind if I got the recipe?"

Lily stared suspiciously at him, and wondered if the Marauders were trying to woo Mrs. Walker, as she was beautiful, even though she was decades older than themselves. But no, they looked sincere and honest, so she decided that they really thought Violet's mother was a wonderful cook.

"We saw that prank book of yours, Mr. Walker," said James mischievously. "The Slytherins are in for it this year—"

"—Snape is," finished Remus, glaring at James and giving him a "that's-not-tactful" look. 

Comprehension dawned on James' face and he hastily tried to correct his mistake.

"Oh, I mean, there's some bloke named Snape that we love to taunt, and he so _happens _to be a Slytherin—"

"That's quite fascinating, boys," said Mr. Walker, forcing a fake smile. He glanced nervously at his wife.

Lily glared at James.

"You prat," hissed Arabella menacingly. "You know Mrs. Walker was a Slytherin! Not all Slytherins are bad, you know."

"It slipped," whispered James sheepishly. "I never meant it to go…"

Lily stood up abruptly. 

"Mrs. Walker," she said in a sweet voice. "May I be excused?"

"Of course, Lily." Mrs. Walker smiled, not giving away her true feelings at the moment.

Lily grabbed James' wrist and dragged him into the room she was staying in. She shut the door softly behind and glared at her companion.

"Do you know how much heartache you've just caused Mrs. Walker? How can you be so _tactless_?"

"Me, tactless?" roared James. "It just slipped! Not everyone can think before they say, unlike Little Miss Perfect Evans. I _am _sorry!"

"You—" Lily stopped. "Potter, you infuriate me. Get out of this room."

"My pleasure," spat James bitterly, as slammed the door behind him.

Lily sighed. Why was she so nasty to James? 

__

Well, technically, you weren't so nasty at Potter, said a voice inside her head.

"Who are you?" demanded Lily.

__

I'm your conscience, of course. Didn't you know that? I thought someone with brains like yours would know everything.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed.

__

Why should I? I am a part of you, Lily Evans. Besides, I'm not really another person. I'm just another part of you. You're talking to yourself, in other words.

"What do you man I wasn't so nasty at Potter?"

Oh…that. Ha! Of course you weren't nasty to him. You were just saying what you thought best. I understand, Lily. But you see, James is more complex and complicated in character than you think.

"What? What are you talking about?"

To put it bluntly, Lily Evans, James Potter is in love with you. I know we're all only fifteen, as I get that speech very often, but really, I'm not joking. He just doesn't like it when you act all bossy and stuff.

"I was not bossy! I was just telling him what's to be expected of him."

EXACTLY! Bingo! He doesn't want you to tell him what's to be expected of him. He's a big boy, Lily, he can take care of himself. Oh, and by the way, no one's perfect, so don't blame him for his little blunder tonight.

"Lils? Who are you talking to?" Arabella was next to the doorway, staring at her.

Whoops. I got to go now!

"My conscience," replied Lily flatly.

"Are you all right?" Arabella plainly ignored her odd answer.

"I suppose. It's just that Potter—"

"Oh." Arabella rolled her eyes. "It's about Potter again, is it?"

"Well, what else?"

"Look, Lily, I think you and James should be friends. I mean, he's not all that bad."

"Easy for you to say, Bells; his best friend is your boyfriend."

"Lils, I'm trying to help here!" whined Arabella, pouting.

Lily laughed, shaking her head.

"Anyway, I really do think you and James should have a little get-together thing."

"Bella…"

"Oh, fine! Do whatever you want then. But promise me you guys will be friends in our sixth or seventh year. At least be **decent **to him in our sixth year."

Lily thought for a moment. "Promise."

"Are you sure you're going to keep that promise?"

"'Course, Bellsies."

Arabella narrowed her eyes. "Don't use that nickname, Lily Evans. It's making you like Sirius."

Lily promptly stopped talking.

Her friend sighed. "Lily, James is a good guy. Just—give him a chance, won't you? I know he'll improve—"

She snorted. "Bella, we all know that Potter has the biggest head in the world."

"All right, so he's a little too self-conscious of himself, but he's a really nice guy, once you know him. I know he'll give you a good shoulder to cry on or a good ear to listen to if you know him better."

"I've known him for five years, Arabella."

"Ugh! Fine, I'll shut up now and stop trying to convince you into anything."

Lily rolled her eyes, smiling.

In the boys' room, Sirius was currently badgering James with questions about their little confrontation in Lily's room.

"For the last time, Padfoot, nothing serious happened! Why don't you just leave me and my life alone?"

"Oh, but it's too easy and fun to annoy the hell out of you, Prongs," said Sirius, his eyes twinkling.

"And it's quite easy for me, I assure you Padfoot, to kill you with the Killing Curse if you don't shut up now," said James quite calmly.

Remus chuckled.

Sirius sighed impatiently. "All right, look here, Prongs. You like Lily—love her, even. Why don't you just admit it?"

"Because it's not true!"

Sirius exchanged meaningful looks with his friends and mouthed, "Well, I tried."

James lay on one of the beds, thinking. Surely they weren't serious when they said that he loved Lily! But whenever he thought of Lily, he always had a goofy smile on his face. Did it mean something? He didn't hate Lily, that was for sure. He loved her thick red hair and those dazzling green eyes that shimmered in the dark. James groaned, and closed his eyes, letting his dreams settle his feelings.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all and I own none.

A/N: All right, this was the WORST possible chapter that I have ever come up with. I am SO, SO sorry that this chapter was so crappy, but I did try. Don't worry, though. If you're disappointed, then you won't be when I start the fifth year. That's when all the drama starts *grin*

Thanks again to all my reviewers! 


	18. Fifth Year: Part One

Fifth Year – Part One

"Oh, Lily, we always knew you'd make it!" shouted Arabella, hugging her friend.

Lily smiled, and fingered the Gryffindor Prefect badge on her chest carefully and proudly. Her three girl friends were gushing at it with awe and respect.

"You will let us get away with stuff, won't you?" asked Jennifer mischievously.

"Of course, Jen." She chuckled. "D'you guys have any idea who the other Prefect is?"

"Remus," replied Jennifer happily. "Isn't that wonderful for him? I think he deserves it, since he's not so much a troublemaker as James or Sirius."

Lily's smile faded slightly. She had been almost positive that the other Gryffindor Prefect would be James. However, she wouldn't mind working with Remus, since he was so much more understanding and less annoying. 

Fortunately, none of her friends saw Lily's hesitation, and continued to chat about her duties as a prefect. The compartment slid open, and the Marauders walked in.

"Mind if we sit here, girls?" said Sirius, grinning. "Our ickle Moony is growing up, being a pref—Lily?" He stared at her. "_You_'re a prefect, too? Oh, the shame!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Sirius. Congratulations, Remus."

Remus smiled. "You too, Lily. I always thought that James would be a prefect, though, since he—"

"Aww…shut up, Moony," said James affectionately. He didn't seem bothered at all that he wasn't a prefect. "And it's Prongs, not James."

"Yeah, yeah."

"It was so obvious that Lily would become a prefect," said Violet with a big grin on her face. "I mean, she was prefect material ever since our first year…"

"Don't make me sick, Vi," said Lily.

Violet smiled. "I'll try, Lils."

"Hey, Flower, shouldn't you be in the _prefect _compartment with all the other prefects?" asked Sirius innocently.

Lily's eyes widened. "Oh, damn! I forgot!"

"Well, come on then," urged Remus.

The two rushed out of the compartment amid snickers from James and Sirius, and rushed into the prefect compartment. Everyone else was already there, and the Head Boy and Girl were not pleased to see them late.

"Evans, Lupin," acknowledged Kevin Sharp, nodding at them curtly. "I'm glad that you've finally showed up."

Bellatrix Black let out a shrill giggle.

"Black, what do you think you're doing?" snapped the Head Girl, Teresa Chamberlain.

"Nothing, Chamberlain," said Bellatrix sulkily. 

"Good. Now, I want you all to carry out your duties as a prefect well this year. You may not deduct points from any Houses, but you may give out punishments when it is completely necessary. Also, you will be escorting and helping many of our younger students at Hogwarts, and you will keep watch when there is danger and be alert at all times. Also, I warn you, do not abuse this position, or you will be handing over your prefect badge to another person who is more worthy of the position. I'm sure that you will all be successful in carrying out this job, as Dumbledore chose you all personally." She gave a tight smile toward the Snape and Bellatrix, the Slytherin Prefects.

"I wonder how long Dumbledore took to choose the Slytherin prefects," muttered Remus under his breath. Lily stifled a laugh.

"Can we _go _now?" asked a fifth-year Ravenclaw rather loudly.

Several people chortled, and Teresa looked highly affronted.

"Absolutely not, Goldstein! You must patrol the corridors for forty-five minutes to make sure that everything is all right."

__

"Forty-five minutes?" said Mark Goldstein incredulously. "Is this some kind of joke? No one told me a prefect was this hard!"

Kevin chuckled. "Well, get used to it, mate."

Teresa sniffed. "Well, I don't know why Dumbledore chose you for a prefect, then, if you can't handle the job. I'm sure that there are many other willing Ravenclaw boys in your year who will do the job without complaining."

Mark sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, making a face at Teresa when no one was looking. Lily giggled.

"It looks like we have to be stuck with a Gryffindor Mudblood for forty-five minutes, Severus," said Bellatrix, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Lily turned red, as all eyes rested on her. "And look, Remus, we have to get stuck with slimy snakes for an hour. But they're useful, really, since they're so cunning and deceitful, so we can get whatever we want if we learn a few tricks from them."

Remus laughed, along with the other House prefects. Even Teresa, a strict seventh-year Ravenclaw, smiled.

"Don't mind Bellatrix, Lily," mumbled Snape under his breath. 

Lily stared at him. "What, it's 'Lily', not 'Mudblood' or 'Evans'?"

"Look, I'm sorry if you're mad about those comments, but I have to be like that around my friends…"

"I'm sure," said Lily coldly, and she went off to join Remus.

"What was that about?" he asked, bewildered, as she caught up with him. "Did Snape threaten you?" 

"Nah. Stupid git doesn't have the brains or the guts to do that." 

They both laughed, and set off patrolling the corridors, and watching out for misbehaving students fighting, using magic, etc. After fifteen minutes of this, however, everyone was tired of walking up and down the corridors, and eventually, one of the Hufflepuff girls fainted.

"At least it was something to talk about," reassured Mark to a frantic Head Girl. "I mean, it's so boring, watching for stupid first years trying to do a bit of magic. At least it was exciting."

Teresa glared at him. "Why are you even a prefect?"

"Why?" Mark looked honestly frank. "Well, I don't know, really, but I found the badge with my usual Hogwarts letter. Mum and Dad were thrilled though and bought me a new broom, I s'pose that was a compensation—"

She gave a frustrated shriek and grabbed Kevin, who was currently chatting, with a lovesick gaze on his face, with the other Ravenclaw prefect.

"Looks like Teresa really has it this year," commented Lily, sniggering. "Poor Goldstein is making her life a living hell, and school hasn't even started yet."

"Don't worry, we'll find them in each other's arms before long," assured Remus, grinning at the thought. "It'll be quite a show, too."

"Hey, Remus!" Mark waved, and came over to them. "How's it been?" Without waiting for an answer, he said, "Oh Merlin, prefect duties are so boring! I can't _believe _I got stuck with this."

"The companies won't overlook it when you start finding a job," said Lily wisely. "It'll look good, saying that you were a prefect at Hogwarts."

"I s'pose…" He looked at her doubtfully. "But then again, Evans, you've always been prefect material, so you wouldn't know how I feel."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I do think this is boring as well, Goldstein, so don't say another word."

Afraid that he had gotten onto one of Lily's famous redhead tempers, Mark sauntered off with Frieda Lawrence, the other Ravenclaw prefect.

"You just scared him away, Lily," said Remus, pouting.

"Oh, quit that, Remus. C'mon, we have to do our job before Teresa reports us."

After another half an hour of walking tediously, Teresa finally announced that they may go back to their regular schedule, unless if they would like to remain in the prefects' carriage the rest of the trip. All the prefects, relieved that their constant marching was over, grabbed their belongings and nearly trampled each other while trying to get out of the carriage as quickly as possible.

"How was it?" asked Arabella eagerly, as a disgruntled Lily and Remus entered the compartment and collapsed into seats.

"It was hell," groaned Remus, shaking his head.

***

Not only were the prefect duties a "living hell", but the fifth years were to take their first standardized test this year—the dreaded O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizard Levels). The teachers made sure that they had plenty of homework the first week by giving them essays and readings from the book, and also plenty of review work as well. McGonagall and Hurst took this advantage very pleasantly, so to speak.

"This—is—_hell_," breathed James, as he dug his fingers painfully into his messy jet-black hair.

"Oh, don't be such a wet blanket, Potter," said Lily cheerfully. "This isn't as bad as I had expected."

"WHAT?" He gave her a hollow stare.

"Yeah, I expected worse," she said, nodding and smiling.

James groaned and let his head fall onto the table with a loud "thump". Everyone in the Gryffindor common room glared at him, especially the fifth and seventh years, who were also struggling with their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. homework, respectively. He glared right back, and everyone quickly went back to their work again.

"Stupid people," he muttered.

"Oh, don't be so cynical, Potter," continued Lily in the same singsong voice.

"Lily, stop pestering the poor boy so," chided Violet. "He's trying to do his homework. Merlin knows we have so much of it, and we're not all as clever as you."

"Do stop it, Vi. I'm not so clever as you think, and I'm definitely not finished yet. I need some serious tutoring in Transfiguration." She groaned loudly.

"Transfiguration?" repeated James, almost laughing. "I finished that ages ago! And Perfect Prefect Evans hasn't finished it before me?"

"Oh, stuff it, Potter," snapped Lily. "I can do without your taunting, you know. I'm having enough troubles as it is without you challenging my Transfiguration abilities."

"I have high Transfiguration abilities," boasted James. "I can help you if you like, Evans. That is, if you help me with Charms."

Lily thought about it for a moment. She could have James help her in the cursed essay, and be finished with all the homework, and still have it easy with helping James in Charms, as it was her easiest and best subject. But she still had her pride at stake. Having James help her would mean that she was giving into his pleas and woos, and Lily did not want to be subdued of her hatred for him.

"Sorry Potter, no deal," she said simply. "I can handle it myself, thank you very much."

James cursed silently to himself. He knew that she'd say no. He knew that Lily had a lot of pride in herself, and did not want to lose that pride if she agreed to get help. H knew that she was very independent and did not want to depend on others to do the nasty work, in this case, a Transfiguration essay, for her.

"I can help you, Lily," offered Arabella, thinking that her best friend simply refused James' offer because she hated him.

"No, but thank you anyway, Bells."

Arabella was surprised and exchanged bewildered looks with Sirius. She thought that she knew Lily Evans very well, but now there was a new outlook on this.

"Why should Lily refuse my help? I'm not that bad at Transfiguration!" She whispered to Sirius.

"Lily has pride, Bella. She doesn't want to give in that easily…only if it's a desperate situation, then she might as for help."

"What?" Arabella was aghast. "I'm her best friend!"

"Doesn't matter."

"I hate you, Sirius. You are officially the bearer of bad news."

"What did I do?" Sirius was surprised. "Don't peck at me; I was just stating the mere truth."

"The truth is bad, Sirius. You should only state the good truth."

"Well, you did want to know. So I told you."

"You could have told me 'no Bella, but the truth will cause you great distress'."

Sirius let out a yell of frustration, causing the study-absorbed Gryffindors to jump in alarm. 

"What's gotten into you, Padfoot?" said James.

"Bella's mocking me," was his brusque reply.

"I am not!" cried Arabella defensively. "I was just telling you what I expect of you, as my boyfriend."

Several people snickered at this comment, but many boys looked suddenly downhearted. Rumors flew since Arabella and Sirius had broken up last year, and they were now upset that their chances with her were very slim, now that they made up again.

"Hey, Arabella!" called out one brave sixth year. "Go out with me. Dump Black and go out with me, and you'll have anything you want."

The Marauders roared with laughter, and the girls giggled at Arabella. Her face flamed red.

"Not a chance, Demise!" she shouted back. "Black's my man and no one's going to replace him."

"Ha! You only want him 'cause he's a pureblood and that his family are all noble, not to mention snobby and are mostly Slytherins."

Sirius glared at him. "Shut it, Juan, before things get bad. Don't you DARE insult my family, you low-life—"

"Yeah, yeah, dirty half-blood," said Juan Demise, rolling his eyes. "I've heard it before, Black, I've heard it before."

"Actually, I was going to say arrogant jerk," replied Sirius calmly. "I really don't care what type of blood someone has, unlike the rest of my family. But I saw you flirting with my cousin Narcissa last week when old Lucius wasn't looking. Shame on you, Denise."

"You _flirted _with Narcissi?" choked James between coughs. "Oh, Juan, you are a joker, mate."

Juan blushed. "I didn't know who she was!" he cried helplessly. "I thought she was one of those gorgeous girls from Hufflepuff. It never occurred to me that she was a Slytherin, or a Black."

"Or Malfoy's beloved girlfriend," added Sirius.

"All right, I get it, Black! You don't want to dump your girlfriend. I'll ask her best friend then. Hey, Evans, want to go out with me?"

James closed his eyes and sucked in his breath, waiting for the answer. For some strange reason, he didn't want Lily to go out with Juan…but what did it matter to him? She wasn't his girlfriend, so she had the freedom of deciding whatever she wanted.

"Oh, shut up!" screeched Lily, standing up. "I'm trying to do my Transfiguration essay, and I still have a whole roll of parchment to write! And no, Juan, I will not go out with you."

The dark-haired and dark-skinned boy looked rather grim, but didn't mind. After all, it wasn't really Evans he was after; it was her best friend, Arabella Figg. And he'd do anything for Arabella's lips on his own.

James let out the breath that he had realized that he was holding. _Thank Merlin Evans didn't say yes to that Denise…wait, why do I even care?_

His thoughts were disturbed, however, when Jason Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, had stormed right in front of him.

"Potter! There you are." He looked highly delighted about something.

James and Sirius exchanged nervous looks, waiting for the worst.

"Since this year is my final year at Hogwarts." He paused, as if for special effect, before continuing again. "I want that Quidditch Cup. I know that we've held it for quite some time, but I _want the bloody Cup all the same. _You got that? Good. I want us to train hard, hear? We lost the stupid Cup to Slytherin last year, much to my grievous disappointment, but we will NOT lose it to those gits this year if I can help it. Now, practice this Friday." 

"Wood, we've already had a whole week of practices last week," explained James reasonably.

"Merlin, we have to prepare for our O.W.L.s, too!" exclaimed Sirius, outraged. "I got a 'D' on my Potions essay last week!"

"Well, that's your problem, isn't it, Black?" said Wood coolly. "_I _got a D as well on one of my Potions essays—and am I complaining? Hell no. We're going to beat Slytherin this year, and we're going to get that cup. Any words you'd like to add, Potter?"

"Huh?" James wasn't listening to the two-way bickering between Wood and Black.

"Potter, McGonagall's promoting you to captain next year, so I hope you can do Gryffindor proud."

"I'm—I'm going to be the _captain_ next year? Bloody hell, are you serious, Jason?"

"No, he's Sirius."

"Oh, come off it, Wood. Seriously."

"Yes. I've spoke with McGonagall, and she thinks you are the best choice. Now, I hope you'll train hard this year, Potter."

"Yes, sir!" James did a mock salute, and Wood was highly pleased as he walked off.

"Going to snog Cassia, Wood?" called Sirius after him. 

"Leave the poor guy alone, Padfoot," said James, rolling his eyes. "He deserves to win this year."

Sirius ignored him and looked at Peter. "Hey, Wormtail, get Moony for me."

Peter nudged Remus, who was sitting there next to him, absorbed in his Divination reading.

"Moony?"

"Yes?"

"Padfoot wants you."

Remus looked over at Sirius. "Yes, Padfoot?"

"The full moon's in two weeks."

"Don't think I didn't notice, Padfoot. What's your point?"

"The point is, we get to try it out for the first time! It'll be so cool, you being a you-know-what, and then us being—er—you-know-what, and we can rule the school grounds!"

Remus smiled. "And discover new secret passageways."

"There we go, Moony. I knew you were a prankster at heart!"

"Oh, what are you guys planning **now**?" said Jennifer, sighing. "Really, if you can just leave Snape alone, he isn't _too _bad, for a Slytherin at least…"

"Jen," said Sirius sternly, "first of all, we're not plotting against Snape again, as disbelieving as it may sound. Secondly, you are a mad woman, saying that Snape isn't bad for a Slytherin. All Slytherins are bad, if you know what I mean."

"Don't contradict my girl, Padfoot," warned Remus threateningly.

"Whatever, Moony. Anyway—Prongsies? What's wrong? You look—fazed."

James rolled his eyes and sighed. "Seriously, Padfoot, what's with the 'sies' suffixes all the time? And when did you learn such a hard word like 'fazed'?"

"Aww…I know you're just joshing, Prongs. Oh, and I think Prongsies is a cute name, don't you think, stag-boy?"

Remus choked and jabbed Sirius sharply with his arm.

"Ow! What the heck was that for, Remus?"

"Ooh, careful there, Moony, Padfoot's using real names…that means trouble." James smirked.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Prongs, when we're all sent to Azkaban, thanks to the ingenious Mr. Padfoot. Or, at least, you three will be. I'll be visiting often, however. I'll attend Padfoot's funeral as well, and say very nice words about him."

"I'm sure you will, Moony."

"Hey, I'm here, you know!" said Sirius, annoyed.

"Who are you?" asked James innocently.

"Prongs!"

"Prongs? Since when did you know my little nickname? Only my best friends, Remus and Peter, know it. Who are you?"

Sirius sighed in defeat. "All right, I'm sorry I let that stupid 'stag-boy' comment slip. Happy?"

"Very."

"You four do know that you are having the most pathetic conversation, don't you?" asked Lily, bemused.

"What did you hear?" demanded James at once.

"I heard you saying something about a stag-boy," she said, raising her eyebrows at James' alarmed voice.

"And—?" prodded James eagerly.

"And…what? That's all I heard." Lily stared at him strangely. "Are you all right, Potter?"

"Are you _sure_? Do you know what 'stag-boy' means?"

"Well, you're as proud and arrogant as a stag." She shrugged. "Why? What's it to you? Is this some kind of prank again?"

The four Marauders looked at each other nervously.

"We just came up with nicknames," stammered Remus, chewing his lip.

"Yeah—amusing, aren't they?" James laughed nervously.

"Whatever. Look, I'm going to take a walk to the Astronomy Tower."

"I'm coming with you," said James at once.

"Fine."

Lily and James set off to the Astronomy Tower. After about ten minutes or so, they finally made it to the top and saw the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts from below. 

"Well, well, if it isn't Potter and the Mudblood," came a cold, sneering voice.

It was Voldemort, and he looked more sinister and menacing than ever. The two teenagers exchanged glances.

"Why don't you leave us alone, Voldemort?" shouted James.

"Don't make me hunt you down even more, Potter," he spat. "And don't get too cocky now. The Ministry's starting to worry about my fellow Death Eaters and I. They're even starting to fashion a new name for me—You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and my favorite: The Dark Lord. But of course, that's what my darling Death Eaters use as a code signal." He laughed cruelly.

"We're not cowards!" screamed Lily. "I'll be calling you 'Voldemort' for the rest of your days, though it won't be long before you—"

__

"Stupefy!" roared Voldemort.

Lily fell to the ground, unconscious. 

"LILY!" cried James in alarm. "Lily, wake up…_please._" 

"Tut, tut, really Potter, you're not as strong as people say you are. The Mudblood is Stunned, and there's nothing you can really do about it, is there?"

__

"Expelliarmus!" said James, his wand pointing straight at Voldemort. 

Voldemort's wand came soaring to him, and he caught it along with his own, triumphant.

"Don't get too confident, Potter. I know more about the Dark Arts than any other Dark wizard that's ever walked this world…"

"Unfortunately, Voldemort, I hate the Dark Arts. It's all evil."

__

"Avada Kedavra!"

James missed the Killing Curse by a few inches. His heart was pounding endlessly, and he could barely catch his breath.

__

"Enervate," he whispered, pointing his wand at Lily. 

Lily stirred feebly and got up to her feet, staring. Then she finally realized where she was and let out a high-pitched wail that sent Voldemort screaming.

"Shut UP, you stupid Mudblood!" he shrieked.

"You won't get James nor I, Voldemort," she said, quite calmly. "No matter how hard you try."

He laughed. "Ah, but the Dark Lord will get you, Evans, no matter how hard it takes. I won't let you or your son stop my reign of terror."

"You—" But before she could finish, he vanished.

"How did he get to Hogwarts?" said James. "I mean, you can't Apparate or Disapparate on school grounds."

"I'm glad you read _Hogwarts, A History_, Potter," said Lily dryly. "But then again, he is a Dark wizard, and he has his ways."

"Evil git," mumbled James, and they started to head off to Dumbledore's office.

"Er—you do know the password, right, Potter?" asked Lily, as they stepped in front of the stone gargoyle.

"Come off it! You're the genius in this school, I thought you knew!"

"Oh, sod off. Let's see…Peppermint Humbugs."

James gave her a strange look.

"Stop staring, Potter, and help me."

"All right! Er—Pepper Imps?"

The gargoyle came to life and jumped aside. They entered Dumbledore's office and felt the same warm and cozy feeling as they sat down nervously. Dumbledore smiled at them from his large desk.

"Professor, Voldemort attacked us in the Astronomy Tower," said James quickly.

Dumbledore looked grave. "Has he attempted to kill you?"

"Yes, sir, and he almost did. And he Stunned Lily, too."

"I wasn't hurt too badly," said Lily hastily. "I mean, James revived me again…"

No one seemed to notice the pink tinge that appeared on her cheeks when she said this.

"I see. Well, I am very sorry to tell you, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, that you shouldn't wander around the school grounds without anyone accompanying you. From now on, if you would like to go somewhere, please bring your friends or a teacher. That is, unless if you can go about being unseen." He seemed to be looking straight at James when he said this.

Lily sniggered and James turned beet red.

"We'll be going now, Professor," said the former, still giggling. James went after her stoically.

"You should have seen your face, Potter!" gasped Lily, still laughing. "I mean, Dumbledore **knows **you have an Invisibility Cloak!"

"Oh, shut it, Evans," snapped James irritably. "I was just attacked by Lord Voldemort. Really, you can be more thoughtful about my feelings, you know."

"Potter, I was just Stunned by Lord Voldemort."

"Oh yeah. Oops, my bad."

As soon as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait on the seventh floor, Arabella and Sirius came bounding to them and crashed into each other. Lily and James took one look at each other and started to laugh.

"Oh yes, very funny, laugh all you want," said Arabella sarcastically, as both she and Sirius got up and dusted themselves. "Be that way and worry your best friends to death."

"I knew you guys were snogging up there, but Bella insisted that we find you anyway," said Sirius smugly.

"Snogging? Do you really think so, Sirius?" said Lily wryly. "Enemies snog all the time in the Astronomy Tower, oh _yes_!"

"Really? I knew it!"

"Oh, Sirius, Lily was being sarcastic," sighed Arabella.

"Padfoot, you are pathetic," laughed James.

Sirius had a maniacal glint in his eyes. "Prongs, can I be best man?"

"Huh?" James frowned.

"At the wedding of you and Lily."

"Oh, that." He waved it off casually. "Whatever. You probably are the best man anyway, since you're the godfather of Harry, too."

"What a random topic, Sirius," remarked Lily.

"I had to say something before I die for Bella, like the prophecy says," he said solemnly.

"Who knew you were going to be so heroic later on, Sirius," said Arabella, smiling.

"If only we knew…" whispered Lily.

***

"That was the best experience of my life!" said Sirius, grinning, as they went into the Great Hall tired and yawning.

"Yeah," said Remus, smiling. "Thanks guys. It really made the transformation—er—easier."

"No problem, Moony," said James, looking delighted.

"Now that we found the passageway to Hogsmeade through the one-eyed witch's hump, what are we going to do?" asked Peter.

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this opens a list of possibilities, doesn't it? We can do anything now! We can even go to Hogsmeade during the full moons."

James grinned. "Wormtail, you are a genius. Really. We should create a map that shows every single passageway of Hogwarts, and with everyone's name labeled on it, so we know where all the prefects and teachers are at, so we won't get in trouble. What do you think?"

"Prongs?"

"Yes, Padfoot ol' buddy?"

"The students of Hogwarts have now the opportunity to know the greatest minds and pranksters that this school will ever see."

"I second to that."

"We can have it as a blank parchment, so no one will suspect a thing," said Remus. "We can call it 'The Marauder's Map', and we can have passwords to make it show, or make it blank."

"Moony, you are a wicked, wicked genius," said Sirius complimentarily.

"Thank you, Padfoot."

"But," said James doubtfully, "we do have to do a lot of charms to it…"

"Not to worry, Prongs," assured Remus. "We'll manage it. And if we're stuck on something, I'm sure we can get some help from Lily if we know how to be as vague and unsuspecting as possible."

Sirius dangled his arms around the three other Marauders. "Fellow Marauders, we have just entered a new era of Hogwarts history."

"Why?" came Arabella's amused voice as she grinned at her boyfriend.

"Bellsies! What are you doing here?" Sirius was flustered.

"I'm here for breakfast, you twit," she said jokingly. 

"Oh—right."

"Bells, there's no point of trying to reform, Sirius," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "He's totally hopeless."

"Wait a minute, you wanted to reform me?" cried Sirius in alarm. "Why hasn't anyone told me this before?"

The two girls looked at each other and shrugged.

"Now, why should we tell you, Sirius?" said Jennifer, grinning. "After all, you'd object like you're doing right now—"

"All right, I get it! Good Merlin, people these days…"

James gave a loud gasp and covered his hand over his mouth.

"What are you doing, Prongs?"

James shoved the _Daily Prophet _into the middle of the table so that the girls could read the front page.

****

The Dark Lord: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Rises

A new Dark wizard is fashioning his name as Lord Voldemort, writes Danielle Henderson, _Special Correspondent. _

This wizard is very dangerous, and we must all refer to him as "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Be-Named". He has been reported at appearing at the Potters' house this summer, so says Sarah Potter and her husband Daniel Potter, as well as Headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore. 

"He threatened to kill my James and his friend," says Mrs. Potter weakly. "I don't know about the rest of you, but he's not as harmless as you think. This Voldemort will destroy many lives, I warn you all."

Unfortunately, Mrs. Potter is quite right. One of You-Know-Who's followers has recently murdered the Prewetts, a very powerful pureblooded family next to the Potters and many others. This young man (so called "Death Eater"), is no older than nineteen, named Antonin Dolohov, and he and his other fellow Death Eaters are planning more deaths ahead, so predicted. 

Yet, many of our fellow wizards and witches don't think You-Know-Who at all harmful; in fact, many think that he has the right idea by trying to get rid of Muggle-borns (people of non-magic descent). 

"The man is quite right about getting rid of these Mudbloods," says Tricia Black confidently. "Mudbloods are stinking up our world, and if they aren't rid of immediately, then our whole Wizarding community will be going to the dogs soon."

Why is this mad wizard killing off many families? 

"Lord Voldemort is quite capable of many deeds, I imagine," says Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "He is killing every wizard and witch whom he believes will thwart or threaten his reign in power."

Minister Bagnold is quite nervous of this Dark reign that Dumbledore mentions, and urges the magical community to remain calm. She thinks that this wizard will be as bad as Grindelwald, if not worse, and suggests constant vigilance.

"He will not take over our world if I can help it," she states flatly.

What will become of us, you ask? Well, we shall see about You-Know-Who and how far he will get before we can start sending out our best Aurors against him.

"Mum and Dad will surely fight him," whispered James worriedly, as they finished reading the article. "They're two of the top Aurors in the Ministry."

Sirius faced his best friend seriously (no pun intended). "Prongs, I'll be by your side through thick and thin. You can count on that. And you know I'd rather die than to give you up."

Despite the situation, James smiled. He knew that he was beyond lucky to have such a best friend like Sirius. Even though most people thought him stupid and only good for his looks, Sirius was much more. He had dignity, honor, and bravery—three qualities that the Blacks were never known for, and only his cousin, Andromeda, had, besides him. 

"I know, Padfoot," he replied quietly. "I know."

"I will stand by you at the end as well, Prongs," said Remus. "You guys have done so much for me—I can only do the least by sacrificing myself if needed."

"Me too, Prongs," said Peter, but his voice wavered. He wasn't as brave as his three best friends were. No, he was a coward that didn't belong in Gryffindor. What was the Sorting Hat thinking? It considered putting him in Hufflepuff and then Slytherin, but at the end, it had decided Gryffindor. Who knew—maybe he'd become some sort of hero, sacrificing himself for his friends. The blond boy smiled at the thought.

"We're by your side, too, Potter, even if I don't like you too well," said Lily, grinning, as she shook James' hand.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" said Arabella.

"Nope." Lily withdrew her hand quickly from his grasp.

"We'll be friends through all this, right?" asked Violet hopefully. "Even if not all of us will survive?"

"Definitely," they all chorused together.

-

The Marauders and the girls were currently stuck in the Forbidden Forest. None of them really knew why or how they had gotten there. One moment they were in History of Magic catching up on their sleep, and the next, they suddenly were jerked awake and found themselves under the clutches of livid centaurs. To put it mildly, they were very not pleased.

"I swear this was Voldemort," said James furiously. "That damn git—"

"James!" whispered Peter fearfully. "Don't insult him…what if he hears you?"

"SO LET HIM HEAR ME!" he roared. "HELLO VOLDEMORT! THIS IS YOUR FAVORITE ENEMY SPEAKING, JAMES POTTER! YOU KNOW ME, RIGHT? THE ONE YOU TRIED TO _KILL _AT THE ASTRONOMY TOWER THE OTHER DAY!"

"Prongs, shut up," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "You aren't helping the situation."

"Yes, Potter, yelling for Voldemort can only increase our problems," added Lily dryly.

"Look at it this way, James," said Remus quietly. "We are in the Forbidden Forest, which is forbidden to all students, as you can tell by the name. We've just narrowly escaped a pack of mad centaurs that claim we disturbed the planet rotations, and now we have no idea where we are in this forest. Now you're starting to curse at an invisible Voldemort. Maybe you can think of a better solution than that, Prongs."

Some people might have thought Remus said this sarcastically, but they all knew him too long, and knew that he was dead serious.

"You're right, Moony. But what can we do?"

"What about—IT," suggested Sirius.

The girls looked at them with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Nah, I don't have it," said James, shaking his head. "Besides, the girls are here, we can't risk them knowing…"

"Knowing what?" demanded Jennifer. "Really, we're your friends, we won't tell."

Sirius sighed. "Look, Jen, it doesn't matter—"

"It does if it'll help us out of this stupid mess!" she shot back.

"Well, it won't!"

"Does everyone have their wand with them?" asked Lily tiredly. 

There was a chorus of "Yes" among the group.

"Good. We'll light our wands and be on our way. There's no point of arguing. We should just go with the flow and see if we can find our way back to the castle."

"Why didn't we think of that?" muttered Sirius. _"Lumos."_

The others did the same, and they all looked for the lightest path. When they found it, they started to follow it, hoping that it would lead them back to the castle and to safety. From then, they would go to Dumbledore and tell him what had happened.

"This light isn't working," said James, squinting at the path. "No, wait…blimey! I think I see Hogwarts!"

They all rushed through the path, and sure enough, the castle was in view, with many students looking at them with surprise and interest.

"What were you doing in the forest?" asked Alex Opalisk, a fourth-year Gryffindor. She fluttered her eyelashes at James and Sirius.

"Ditz," muttered Arabella under her breath.

"Er—Hagrid sent us there to do something for him," stammered Remus.

Alex smiled at him seductively. "So—Remus," she said slowly. "The next Hogsmeade trip is on Halloween. Care to go?"

Remus stared at his friends, silently pleading for help.

"He already _has _a girlfriend," said Lily coolly.

"Who? You?" She sneered.

"No, actually…" Lily looked at Jennifer.

"What about you, Jamie?" she cooed. "You going with someone?"

James gulped. He liked Alex very much, since she was very pretty, but he felt intimidated by her all the time. His hazel eyes locked in with Lily's green ones, they begged her for help.

"James is already going with me," said Lily swiftly.

Everyone stared at her, especially Arabella, who's eyes widened in surprise and delight. Lily shot her friends a look that said, "Yeah, well, this is only one favor for Potter in my lifetime".

"Oh." Alex looked severely disappointed and walked off.

James let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Lily."

"Just don't expect any more favors from me again, Potter," was her brief reply.

"Never again will I have the pleasure," he agreed readily.

They all quickly headed into the castle and to Dumbledore's office. When they told him their story, the professor quickly stood up and sighed, his blue eyes tired and feeble-looking.

"I'm afraid you all—especially you five—are in grave danger, now that Voldemort knows of the prophecy and how Harry James Potter will thwart him in his reign of power." Dumbledore looked at Lily and the Marauders.

"But—Professor—" began Lily, but she could say no more.

"Why did it have to be us?" said James, sighing. "Why us?"

Dumbledore looked at the black-haired boy sympathetically. "It's just fate, Mr. Potter. It's just fate."

When they left his office, James let out a loud groan, causing everyone look his way.

"What's up, Prongs?" asked Sirius.

"It's just—I don't get it," he said quietly. "Why us? Why Lily and I?"

No one had an answer for his questions, and they all slipped into Gryffindor Tower, except for Lily. She lingered, waiting for James.

"It's just fate, Potter," she whispered, smiling slightly. "Fate's bringing us together, and fate's killing us together. But we'll stick by…together."

James grinned at her. "I thought you hated me."

"Oh, I do. In fact, I believe I loathe you very much. But you see, Potter, we still have to work together, no matter how difficult it is for the both of us."

"It won't be difficult for me, Evans. I don't hate you; I just don't like you too well. But I'm sure it'll change by the years. We were meant to be together, unfortunately."

"You know, Potter, you're not half bad sometimes. I mean, you do have your moments, like now. Yet other times, you're completely unbearable. I s'pose, however, that we were made for each other and nothing can change that."

"You're absolutely right, Evans. So—how about that Hogsmeade weekend?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

"Oh, I know something that'll change your mind." James started to tickle her. 

Lily shrieked with laughter and chased James around in circles in front of a very disapproving Fat Lady. But the portrait smiled as she saw true love right in front of her eyes. Only the lovers did not see it—but will soon, after all they will go through together.

It was like what Dumbledore had said: it's just fate. Lily and James were two very wonderful and powerful wizards, and they did not deserve to have such a sad and horrifying fate. But that was just it. No one chose who they would marry, or what job they would get. It was all up to fate. Sometimes fate would be very nice and give you a devoted husband and lovable children. But sometimes, like their situation, it wasn't so nice. Lily and James would have a short life together, for less than three years, but it would be one of warmth and tenderness, for both themselves and their future son. And nothing could change that...except for fate. All they could do is wait and let it all happen.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything that you are familiar with.

A/N: I know, I updated a day after the last chapter, and it's still long—eighteen pages! I know you all love me now *waits for hugs* The reason why I updated so soon was because I knew that the last chapter was a big disappointment (there's no need to deny it, I even hate it), and I want you guys to have a good chapter here. All right, I admit this chapter is awful, but hey, it's better than the summer one, right? Now that one was stupid, you have to admit, no matter how nice you want to be. You will find the next chapter in hopefully by this weekend, but I really can't make any promises, because my SAT training sessions start this Saturday with the pre-test, taking a whopping three-and-a-half hours long. I know. Miserable. Let's all cheer when I fail it. Oh well. At least it doesn't count for college…until I take the real thing in sophomore or junior year. Or take my first one next January. 

Anyway, back to the stupid story. Oh, yes. I want to know (truthfully) how you guys feel about this story. I am losing a lot of interest, so if it's terrible, then I won't continue it, and put up the epilogue, which is tear-breaking, I must admit. Yes. The only thing I'm looking forward to in this story is writing the epilogue and finishing it, so that I can get on to more exciting things. Like actually reading other fanfictions. So…

****

I want your opinions please! Good? Bad? Horrendous? C'mon, don't be shy, tell me!


	19. Fifth Year: Part Two

Fifth Year – Part Two

The Wizarding world has now become increasingly edgy and frightened as Voldemort slowly gained power. His way of gaining power wasn't as quick as Grindelwald's rise; in fact, it was so slow that it almost went unnoticed. But Millicent Bagnold, who was quite a capable Minister of Magic, had the top Aurors on alert at all times. The world was steadily growing darker, with the Marauders and the girls in the midst of it all, waiting anxiously for the day that Voldemort would strike Hogwarts and murder them all.

"Why is everyone so touchy whenever I say Voldemort's name?" said James irritably, as one Hufflepuff shot him a terrified look before scurrying to his common room.

"They're cowards, that's why," replied Sirius matter-of-factly, as they started to head off to Gryffindor Tower. "But then again, even some of the bold Gryffindors say that You-Know-Who rubbish."

"They're afraid the evil git might strike at any second," put in Lily. "Of course, I don't know how Voldemort could hear you from wherever he is—"

"But that's the point," squeaked Peter. "You don't know where You-Know-Who is, so you must be wary and careful."

"Oh, don't tell me _you_'re saying that stupid You-Know-Who stuff too, Wormtail." Sirius sighed impatiently.

"That's not the problem right now, Padfoot," said Remus hurriedly. "The problem is, Voldemort is after Lily and James. He can strike at any second. So we can't let Lily and James out of sight until his reign weakens a bit."

"Wait a minute," said Lily. "You want to be our _watchdogs_? Are you mad, Remus?"

"What's wrong with the idea?"

"Well, first of all, you can't watch us every minute. It's absurdly impossible and stupid. And second of all, Voldemort is going to be after us for the rest of our lives! We can't all share a house until he dies, can we? I mean, he won't stop stalking us and trying to kill us, since he's a very persistent man."

"Evans is right," said James, shaking his head. "We can't have you all watching us and sticking to us like glue. We can take care of ourselves."

"But really, if Voldemort strikes…" Violet trailed off, her eyes widening. "You may as well say good-bye to your lives right now if that's how you're going to be."

"Really," agreed Jennifer. "Vi's right. You guys definitely need protection."

"We don't need you guys bothering with us, though," argued Lily. "We'll have Dumbledore think of something; he always does."

Arabella chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I guess Lily and James are right. I mean, we can't be their protectors forever. I mean, Voldemort might murder us in one curse, and then what'll they do? I call for another plan."

__

"Don't say You-Know-Who's name!" hissed Peter, looking around with frightened eyes. But no one paid any attention to him.

"Look, mate," said Sirius, sighing with resignation. "What can we do to help, then? I'm not going to sit here and let you face the music on your own!"

"We can handle it, we don't want you to get yourself killed—" began James, but Sirius shook his head vigorously.

"That's the last thing I'll ever think of doing, Prongs. You're my best friend and my best mate. I have to help you, or I'll kill myself thinking about how I let down my best friend."

No one had ever heard Sirius speak so emotionally and beautifully before. They all knew that Sirius was smart and brave, of course, but none of his friends ever knew that strong bond of loyalty inside him that would never break, especially in a time like this. 

Arabella grasped Lily's hand tightly. "I'll never let you down either, Lils. If you go down, then I go down."

Lily and James both smiled at their best friends. Arabella and Sirius had no idea how much those words meant to their best friends, whose lives were about to be cut short by a madman. But the warm moment was interrupted when a greasy-haired boy started running toward them.

"POTTER! SET ME RIGHT!"

The Marauders sniggered loudly. James smiled at Snape like he was an old friend.

"Why, Severus, when did you ever have boils all over your face?" 

Snape seethed in anger. "Potter, take—these—stupid—boils—off—me."

"Why should I? You're loads better looking now."

Lily felt pity for the poor Slytherin and removed the boils from his face with a flick of her wand. 

"Thank you, Lily," said Snape, nodding.

"Why did you do that?" demanded James, after they entered the common room. 

"I felt bad for Snape," she replied simply. "Besides, why do you guys bully him anyway? Sure he's a slimy git and I hate him as well, but why must you bother him? Leave him alone!"

"Evans, Snivellus has always had his little beady eyes on the Dark Arts ever since he came to Hogwarts. I'm surprised you don't know this. His family has always been supportive of the Dark Arts."

"Still…that's no reason to bully him," said Lily defensively, though she already knew she was losing the verbal battle.

"_No reason_? Evans, he's likely to be a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake!"

"He is a Death Eater," corrected Sirius.

Remus and Peter remained silently, staring at their shoes.

"Lily, it's true," said Violet quietly. "Snape's parents used to be my mum's friends, and she used to date Mr. Snape. They've always been on the Dark Side as far as anyone knows; that's why Mum left him for Dad."

"Wait a minute," said Sirius, frowning. "Your mum almost **married **a Snape?"

"I wouldn't say married…" Violet turned bright pink.

"Oh, Sirius, sod off," snapped Jennifer, coming to her friend's aid. "Mrs. Walker didn't marry Mr. Snape, so what're you complaining about?"

"Can't you leave him alone, though?" asked Lily. "I mean, he hasn't done anything to you…You don't have to like him, can't you just stop hexing him and playing pranks on him?"

"Evans, that would ruin our reputation!" exclaimed James in horror.

"We are the Marauders, after all," added Sirius.

"Remus? Aren't you going to say something witty about this?"

"I—I don't think hexing Snape is right, but—what can I do?" stammered Remus.

Lily let out a frustrated sigh. "What can you do? Well, you can tell these two immature pricks to stop hexing Snape!"

"Hey, we can still hear you, you know," said Sirius.

"I _know_. That's why I want you to hear this."

"Oh…" Sirius gasped. "You don't think we're arrogant twits, do you?"

"Sirius, you just described yourself and Potter very well, I must say."

"Flower—you're our friend! Or, at least, my friend."

"Am I?" Lily pretended to look surprised.

"Lils," scolded Arabella, exasperated.

"Oh, all right, I'm joshing. Still, promise me that you won't jinx or hex Snape unless if it's a life-or-death situation. Or if he hexes you first."

The Marauders looked at each other and shrugged.

"Look, Flower, Prongs is the one who hexes Snivelly," said Sirius, raising an eyebrow. "We don't do anything."

Lily stared at James with an icy gaze. "Well, then, I'll just have to have _you _promise me."

James stared at her as well, undaunted. "I'm afraid no promise is made, Evans," he replied coldly.

"Ugh! You snobbish git! All you do is bully innocent bystanders around _just because you're bored. _Do you know how stupid that is?"

"Nope."

"JAMES HENRY POTTER, YOU ARE THE MOST INSUFFERABLE GIT IN THIS WHOLE ENTIRE SCHOOL! CAN YOU JUST STOP HEXING PEOPLE FOR THE FUN OF IT AND BE MATURE FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE?"

The whole common room became deadly silent. Not even a scratching of a quill was heard, as every head turned to where Lily was standing, and breathing harshly. The first years looked absolutely terrified, while the older students grinned at each other, knowing James Potter's fate for getting Lily into her famous redhead temper again.

"Bad luck, Prongs," whispered Sirius.

He didn't respond. Instead, his hazel eyes became glazed as he looked into Lily's eyes. They were flashing dangerously at him and sparkling furiously. For the first time, James realized that Lily Evans was very beautiful. He noticed her long, dark red hair and her stunning green eyes. Why hadn't he noticed her beauty before? That was probably what made him not make a witty or biting comment after Lily's explosion. He simply stayed silent and continued to gaze at Lily like he had never seen her before.

After a while, Lily felt quite unnerved at James was staring at her intently. What did that stupid prat want from her, staring at her like she was a whole new person? She scowled fiercely at him and frowned, but he continued to look into her brilliant green eyes. What was wrong with Potter? 

"Potter, stop staring at me," she hissed venomously, as this continued on for quite some time.

Unable to control themselves, their six friends snickered rather loudly. Sirius and Arabella were looking hopefully at the couple, perhaps wishing that they would start pouncing all over each other at any moment. Remus and Jennifer just looked at each other and gave knowing looks, as if they understood exactly what was going on. Violet and Peter just looked at them, waiting for James' answer. It came a few seconds later.

"Why should I?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, why should you? I **told **you to!"

"Yes, Evans, you did. But it's a free country, isn't it?"

"Not quite. It is in the States, however."

"Have you ever been there? I have. It's quite a delightful place, you know."

Their friends (as well as everyone else in the common room) were staring at them, dumbstruck. Lily had just yelled at James for being a prat, James had provoked her by staring at her incessantly, and now they were both having a cool conversation about the States. It was a bit too much for some of the watching Gryffindors.

"Oh, yes, Potter, I have been to the States. I've been to Ellis Island before. Very enjoyable, especially that Statue of Liberty."

"Really? I've been to Hollywood in California. And you should see how huge those Muggle actors' mansions are!"

"Even larger than yours?"

"Considerably larger, I suppose, though it is a difficult comparison."

"Hello?" Sirius was ready to explode as Lily had done. "Why are you guys just having a normal conversation here? You're supposed to yell at each other or something!"

The couple looked at Sirius like he was crazy, which he was, of course. 

"Why should we yell at each other?" asked Lily icily.

"Why? Because—because—"

"Oh, Sirius, shut up and let them have their conversation," snapped Arabella, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. "It's quieter this way. Now come ON, you have to help me on my Astronomy homework; you know how hopeless I am at the subject."

"But _Bella_…"

"NOW, Sirius."

Pouting, he followed his girlfriend to a table where a handful of Gryffindors were studying, though still watching the whole situation in the corner of their eyes.

"What was that about?" wondered Lily aloud.

James shrugged. "Hey, we have weird best friends."

"True."

"Are we actually agreeing on something, Evans, or is it my imagination?"

Lily smiled. "I think, Potter, that we are agreeing on something. Rare occasion, I must admit. This calls for a celebration."

"Unless if you have a prefect's meeting tonight." He raised his eyebrows.

She swore. "Or maybe not."

"Ooh, you have a dirty mouth, Evans." He tutted rather loudly. "No, no, ickle prefects don't say bad words, Evans."

"Oh, sod off."

***

Lily sighed, staring at the situation in front of them. James and Snape were glaring menacingly at each other, looking like they were wishing the other nothing but ill will. Snape had hexed James while he was heading for the school grounds, and now the two prats were dueling. Or, at least hexing each other until a teacher was in sight.

__

"Rictusempra!"

"Tarantallegra!"

"Furnunculus!" 

"Petrificus Totalus!"

James' whole body stood stiff as a board and fell onto the ground with a painful crash. Many of the bystanders gasped, and some of the girls started to whimper and cry. They obviously belonged to the James Potter Fan Club.

"Git," muttered Sirius, clenching his knuckles. He quickly went next to James and took his wand out, about to say the counter-curse, but a shriek from the end of the corridor stopped him.

McGonagall was shaking with fury as she glared at the students crowding around the stiff body of James Potter.

"Who—did—this?" she managed to say.

Everyone looked at each other and than pointed accusing fingers at Snape, who was now completely white.

"Mr. Snape, what is the meaning of this?"

"Potter hexed me, Professor, so I returned the favor—"

"No, he didn't, Professor McGonagall!" cried Kevin Sharpe. "Snape hexed Potter first; I saw it myself."

"I see." McGonagall's lips thinned as she glared at everyone in sight. "Well, I suppose you're not lying, Sharpe, since you are the Head Boy, but I do assure you, Mr. Snape, Mr. Potter"—she looked at the two boys—"you will be sent straight to the Headmaster if this ever happens again. Black, put Potter to order again. Good day to you all."

Sirius hurried to James and muttered the counter-curse. James quickly scrambled to his feet and stood up right in front of Snape.

"We'll continue this later, Snivellus," he muttered.

"Do you _see_, Potter?" nagged Lily, as they headed to the school grounds for a bit of air. "Hexing Snape only causes more trouble; why don't you guys just leave each other alone?"

"I don't know Evans," said James bitterly. "Snape was the one who started it this time. Even you saw what happened. Funny really, though. You never seem to stick up for me, but you stick up for Snape plenty of times."

"Well, that's because—" Lily stopped and realized that James was right; she never did give him a single good word about it and spent the whole time on Snape's side—a Slytherin! How could she be so despicable?

"Yes?" he said icily.

"It's because—because I like you, all right?" she yelled. _What am I doing, telling Potter that I like him? I must be out of my mind!_

James' eyes widened, and he gaped at her, unable to say anything. The Marauders and girls exchanged knowing looks with each other and surveyed the scene with relish. But Lily had already run off to the direction of Gryffindor Tower, tears running down her cheeks. He took action at once.

"LILY!" he cried. "WAIT!"

But she paid no mind to him.

He was running after her, dodging trick staircases and the disapproving tittering from the portraits ("Really, the boy can show some consideration for us!" said one ancient maiden impatiently.)

"Pixie Dust," gasped James, as he reached the portrait hole.

The Fat Lady swung open, admitting entrance. He rushed to the direction of the fifth year girls' dormitory, but found himself slipping to the ground as he tried to climb the staircase. Several girls giggled and pointed at him from the fireplace.

"Potter?" Lily wiped the last of her tears and looked at James apprehensively. "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course. Look, I think we need to talk—"

A burst of sniggering followed as the girls by the fire started to blush and poke one another. James raised an eyebrow.

"Just what is so funny?" he retorted.

"You just said the four words that any girl or guy is afraid of," supplied one, who was exceptionally calmer than all the rest.

"Oh, sod off," he muttered viciously, and went over to Lily.

"Potter, just forget about what I said, all right?" snapped Lily.

"But—"

__

"Forget it."

"I won't! Evans, just listen to me…"

"Look, Potter, I don't like you, all right? I don't know why I ever said I did—"

"But—wait, you don't like me?"

"Of course not! Why else are we arguing here in the common room with other girls as spectators?"

"Then _why _did you say you liked me back there?"

The girls near them burst into a fit of giggles again. Both fifth years ignored them accordingly and continued their verbal attack.

"I wasn't thinking, Potter, when I said it. All right? Will you just leave me alone?"

"No!"

"And why ever not? I told you I don't like you—what else do you have to say, Potter? Huh? Come on, spit it out!"

"I—" James stopped himself just in time. "Nothing. You're right, Evans, we've nothing to talk about."

Lily nodded and went back to the dormitory, while James sank into an armchair away from the chattering girls by the fire. He had just realized something very important, and he needed to tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter—wherever they were.

His wish came true when the Marauders and girls bounded into the common room. They gave him questioning looks when Lily wasn't in sight. James nodded to the direction of their dormitory, and the girls nodded, going up one by one.

"Prongs, you all right, mate?" asked Sirius anxiously.

James looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Look, I have something really important to tell you."

"What is it?" said Remus nervously.

"I"—he lowered his tone—"I like Lily."

The three Marauders' jaws dropped open. 

"Are you serious?" whispered Sirius hoarsely.

"No, you are," joked James.

"Really, Prongs."

"I'm dead serious."

Suddenly, Sirius broke into a grin. "See, didn't I tell you? I was right, wasn't I?"

"Padfoot, you really aren't helping," chided Remus. "Prongs, did you realize this just now?"

"Yes, Moony."

"After being so obvious since our first year?"

"Hey, and you told me I wasn't helping!" exclaimed Sirius, pouting.

James grimaced. "Was I that obvious throughout our past years here?"

"Definitely."

"Moony, what am I going to do? Lily hates me now!"

"She's always hated you," piped up Peter.

"Wormtail, don't try to help either," warned Remus.

"Look, Prongsies"—James twitched at Sirius' nickname—"I've got a plan that will work perfectly. It's called Operation Matchmaker. What'd you think?"

"What's it supposed to do?"

"Get you and Lily together of course! Or, at least have Lily like you."

"Which is saying that this Operation Matchmaker is a miracle-maker."

"Exactly, Prongs. Exactly."

"And Sirius, you're not exactly what I would call a 'miracle-worker', so I really doubt this is going to work."

"Look, Prongs, Padfoot may have a point," said Remus earnestly. "I mean, with a little help from the girls…we may just able to get Lily to soften up to you. After all, you have your moments when she _does _soften up to you."

James shook his head, staring at his friend. "Moony, I think that Padfoot is corrupting you—really."

He grinned. "Prongs, just listen to us, and we'll think of something, all right?"

"If you can think of something, I'll jump off the London Bridge if you ask me to."

"Really?" squealed Sirius, his face shining. "Would you, Prongsies?"

"Padfoot," said Remus, closing his eyes, "I told you NOT to help. Now go back to sleep. You too, Wormtail. This is a talk between professionals, so **no **amateurs are allowed."

Sirius pouted again, and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"Don't do that, Padfoot, you look like a girl," said James, smirking.

"Hey, I'm not the one who likes Lily Evans!" he shot back, rather loudly.

"You like Lily Evans, James?" asked Frank Longbottom, looking up from his Herbology homework.

His girlfriend, Alice, broke into a huge grin. "I knew you had it in you, James. Now all you have to do is admit it to her."

"No way in _hell_ am I ever going to do that," insisted James stubbornly.

Frank snorted, and Alice raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, why not?" she asked.

"Alice, you don't know Evans very well. She'll think I'm joking, for one thing, and then she'll hex me for trying to trick her. Really, you should've known that already."

"We've seen you and Evans together, James, and we know that you two are meant to be together. She likes you, too."

"Er—Alice? D'you maybe think you can help us solve their problem?" said Remus tentatively.

Alice's smile, if possible, became even wider and more sinister. "Of course, Remus. Anything for my boyfriend's kid friend."

"Hey, I'm fifteen!" said James defensively. "I'm not a little kid!"

"Well, you're sure acting like it," said Frank, now smiling as well. "We'll help, of course. Dad told me to take care of little Jamie for the Potters, anyway. Matchmaking is our professional job."

"Oh?" Remus sounded absolutely delighted. "You're professionals? Excellent!" There was a strange and wild gleam in his eyes, that reminded James and Sirius painfully of Wood and his tyrannical Quidditch practices.

"What happened to that quiet Moony we knew from our first year?" the latter demanded. "You were such a small and innocent creature, Moony. Now you're as sinister and demanding as Wood."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Hey, I really want Lily and James both to be happy and fulfill their destinies, so I may as well join the Insanity Club."

"Wonderful," said Alice, with that same gleam in her eyes as Remus. "Now…where shall we start?"

-

"Wait a minute, you want me to WHAT?"

"I want you to compliment her; you know, the usual."

"No, Alice, I don't know."

Alice sighed. "Tell her that her hair is nice or something, or that her eyes look spectacular today. Say something that'll make her day. And don't call her 'Evans', either; call her by her real, given name."

"You're asking for too much, Al," groaned James.

"What's the problem, then?"

"First of all, Evans—"

"Lily."

"Right, Evans. Anyway, she'll know I'm lying for sure since I've called her carrot-top for quite some time—"

"You've _what_?"

"Called her carrot-top," replied James casually.

"James." Alice moaned. "Why did you have to ruin my plan?"

"What did I do?"

"I thought that you and Lily had that sort of love and hate relationship…"

"Al, we don't HAVE a relationship."

"Right, but you get what I mean, don't you? Oh, never mind." She frowned at James' puzzled expression. "My point is, I thought that you and Lily were hesitant friends, and that with a few compliments and bit of flirting, you two would become a couple and live happily ever after. Now that I see it's not the case"—Alice sighed fretfully—"I don't know what to do."

"So Evans and I will be enemies forever?"

"Oh, James, her _name _is Lily. **Lily**, not Evans. You won't be getting anywhere if you can't at least call her by her first name, not her surname."

"But Evans sounds so much better."

"Oy, Frankie!" called Alice across the common room. "C'mere!"

"Don't call me that, Lisa," mumbled Frank, turning red, as he strolled over to the pair. "It's embarrassing."

"Never mind you. We're having difficulties with my brilliant plan. And don't call me 'Lisa', it's so…ditzy."

"All right, what's wrong?" He completely ignored the last comment.

"Potter doesn't have the—er—healthy relationship I thought he had, with Lily."

Frank's eyes widened. "You don't mean they—did you-know-what?" he said weakly.

"Oh, no, nothing like that!" exclaimed Alice hastily. "It's just that—ah."

"Ah? That's all you can say?"

"Did you two lovebirds forget about me?" demanded James. "I'm still here, you know."

"James, shut up," ordered Alice. Then she turned to Frank again. "They're natural enemies; they hate each other like Gryffindors hate Slytherins."

"You got that right," muttered James. Alice paid no attention to his comment.

"Look, Frankie, we have to think of a better plan for them to at least be friends."

"You're not friends?" asked Frank curiously.

"Where did you get an idea that we were friends?" asked James incredulously. "Evans loathes me."

"Well, obviously, since you're acting like a total prat right now, James," snapped Alice. "Look, at least call her Lily. Why do you even like her if you can't call her by her given name?"

Frank sniggered loudly and Alice shot him death daggers.

"Frank, _shut up_, before I am forced to hex you into oblivion. Then you won't know your own name, and I'll go find another boyfriend that's _smarter _and _hotter_ than you are!"

Frank shut up immediately, his eyes darting away from Alice and James.

"Oh, but is there another boy that's smarter and hotter than Frank?" queried James innocently.

"James, we've no time to ponder my love life. We're talking about your love life now, unless if you want Evans to hate you for the rest of your life. Now, if the hair compliment doesn't work, try the eye one. She has beautiful eyes; you have to admit that."

"Whatever."

"Bad answer."

"I s'pose. For Merlin's sake, this is even harder than trying to dodge the Killing Curse from Voldemort! Girls are so complicated, I've just realized."

"Aren't they, though?" said Frank heavily. "I share your pain, James. I've had a steady girlfriend for three years, and she's a pain in the—ouch!" Alice swatted him painfully. "What in the name of Merlin was that for?"

"You're talking ill of me, Frankie. I won't have it."

"I thought we were talking about my love life," interrupted James sourly. "Now you guys are having a lover's quarrel again. Sometimes I'm grateful that I'm single, seeing what you couples go through."

Frank and Alice both turned crimson and gave him death glares.

"Well, I s'pose we should be helping little Jamie, Al," agreed Frank, after a while of thought. "But what should we do?"

"Becoming friends first is key," said Alice briskly. "You must be nice to Lily. I mean, really, what's there to not like about you? Just don't act like a prat, and nothing will go wrong with Operation Matchmaker."

"You took Pad—Sirius' stupid name for this?"

"He did insist, and I must say, even if I am a year older than the brat, his puppy face pout is very irresistible, even with a girl more superior than he."

"All right, Jamie, I will show you professional charm and flirting that Lily will not be able to resist." Frank grinned.

"Hey, I happen to have very high marks in that area. That's why you find most of the female population at Hogwarts chasing after me with lovesick faces."

"See, James, that's the first thing you have to change," said Alice, rolling her eyes. "Stop with that damn cocky attitude; it aggravates girls that way. Now I see why Lily can't stand you. You're such a—"

"All right, all right! I'll stop being cocky, or whatever. But mind you, don't kill me or hex me if I let something slip once in a while."

"I won't do anything if your cockiness is occasional, but it better not be often, or else you'll never get Lily. Number two: you must be polite to her at all times. And change that stupid hexing attitude of yours! I don't like it."

"What hexing attitude?"

"You always hex innocent bystanders—mainly Snape—in the corridors for no particular reason. Care to elaborate on that?"

"They _bother _me."

"How so?"

"They exist, don't they? That really ticks me off."

Frank laughed, but hastily turned it into a cough just in time.

"James Potter, I now realize why Lily hates your guts. You're incorrigible, you are. Can't you at least try to change yourself?"

"How, Alice?"

"Oh…I don't know. Be like Frank."

James raised an inquiry eyebrow. "And _how _will that help?"

"Well, look at it this way, Potter. Frank is every girl's dream boyfriend. He's cute, nice, intelligent, a sweetheart, and a dreamy romantic. Get him to teach you a few of his—er—charms, as he calls it."

"Aww…you really do love me, don't you, Al?" said Frank, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Frank, you will do this job and do this job well. Or I will curse you into oblivion and get a new boyfriend. I'm serious."

"No, you're Alice."

"FRANK!"

"All right, all right, I'll do the job good." Frank smiled and clapped James' back. "Well, James, let's get to work on Operation Matchmaker: Step One."

***

"Why, Lily," said James in a sickly sweet tone, "you look absolutely beautiful today! And your eyes are greener than a fresh pickled toad—hey!"

Frank snickered. "Hey, I had to put in something humorous!"

"Frank, if you don't give me good stuff, I'll tell on you."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I'll tell your dad that you've been treating me very badly, and tell Alice that you're not doing your job properly." He grinned smugly.

"Listen, Potter, you don't have that much authority over my father and my girlfriend."

"Oh, don't I? Would you like to find out?"

"NO! All right, I'll give you a good script. But first of all, you have to apologize to Lily."

"For what? I haven't done a thing to her."

Frank stared at him. "Let's see, Potter, what have you done to Ms. Evans? Oh, yes; you've called her 'Evans', played pranks on her, and disrespect her as a person and taunt and tease her. That enough?"

"Aww…c'mon, Frankie!"

"Now, James, or you've got no script from me."

"All right, I'm going!"

James walked up to Lily, who was chatting with Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet by the fire. Halloween had already passed, and winter had come, nearly freezing the Gryffindors.

He took a deep breath. "Look, Eva—Lily, I'm sorry about all those bad things I've ever done to you."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why the sudden apology?"

"I've just realized that I'm a conceited jerk and that I should improve more," said James quickly.

"Whatever, Potter. I accept your apology. Happy now?"

"Very. Oh, truce?"

"In your dreams, Potter. As if I'm that thick to fall for your stupid pranks."

James sighed and went back to where Frank was patiently awaiting him.

"Well, how'd it go, James?"

"She accepted my apology, but I think Evans only wanted to get me out of her hair. I tried to call a truce, but she told me, 'In your dreams, Potter'."

"Look, James, I think that Evans is right. You should stop hexing people around just for the fun of it. It's low, and it's definitely not what us Gryffindors are known for. Gryffindors are known for their nobility, bravery, and sacrifice—not hexing people around. That's Slytherin stuff. James—_listen to me._ If you don't stop this ridiculous hexing random people who annoy you, then you'll be going down into Slytherins' level. And they have a bad reputation in this school, if you know what I mean."

"Frank…you know I can never be a Slytherin. That's against my whole family! We Potters have been Gryffindors for as long as Hogwarts has been around. Not a single person has been in another other House."

"Well, I do hope you can keep it that way. I quit, though."

"WHAT? You can't do that!"

"I can, and I will. You're going to have to learn how to respect Evans on your own, buddy. Treat her like you'd treat your own friends…I know how close you four Marauders are. You four are like brothers."

"But she's a _girl_."

"Then treat 'er like a boy, for Merlin's sake! Don't be so narrow-minded, James."

"Fine! Let's see how you can handle Evans. Go on, then!"

"Potter, I have a girlfriend and I'm not going to lose her," said Frank firmly, glaring at the younger boy. 

"Ah, well, that's your loss, then, eh?"

"What loss?" asked Alice, coming toward them. "How's the lesson going, Frankie?"

"I quit."

"You WHAT?"

"I quit, Lisa. Potter should figure this problem out for himself. 'Sides, he won't listen to me at all. Arrogant and proud git."

"Hey!" exclaimed James, pouting.

"Well, James, I'm 'fraid to say that Frank's right; you need to handle this yourself. Maybe your dear friends might give you a hand once in a while, but I think that you need to get Lily to like you without any help."

"How?"

"First of all, deflate your oversized head!"

"Very clever, Lise," agreed Frank.

"Second of all, stop hexing people for the fun of it!"

"Definitely one to remember, Potter."

"And lastly, respect the girl like who she is, not what other girls are."

"Huh?" said James stupidly, perplexed.

"James, you think of Lily as just any girl at Hogwarts. Those types of girls are flirty and bi—er—well, you know what I mean. Lily's not like that. The girls you know may be all over guys, but Lily's an independent individual who can think for herself and who's strong and free-willed. She doesn't flirt or try to lure guys into bed. So treat her like an individual, and not just a—an idiot girl like Deanna Jackson." She made a face at the very name.

"Well, I treat every girl the same," said James, frowning. "What're you going on about?"

"Treat Lily differently than how you'd treat other girls. You treat other girls by flirting and complimenting them and receiving giggles and batting eyelashes in return. Well, Lily and her friends aren't like that, thank Merlin. They're much more mature, and I'm sure that there are many topics that you and her share interest in. Take the issue of Voldemort, for example. You two share that common bond, knowing that Voldemort's after your future child…maybe discuss about the Dark Arts and how to get rid of it in our world."

"How'd you know—?"

"That's beyond the point, James. Discuss Charms with her. Lily loves Charms, as I hear of from other students. Have her tutor you in the subject. And in return, do the same for her in Transfiguration, as I've also heard that Lily isn't the greatest at that branch of magic."

"I've tried that before, Alice; Evans refused, since her pride was at stake."

"Ah." Alice smiled widely, her blue eyes lighting up. James and Frank both stared at her, wondering vaguely if she had lost her mind completely.

"What?" the two boys simultaneously asked.

"Ah, I know _exactly _what this problem is about, James. The problem lies with you…and Lily. She needs to thaw up to boys, I think. Lily's definitely dating material, but she hasn't gotten a date before, has she? So you have to know that she feels uncomfortable around boys."

"What're you talking about? She goes fine around Sirius and Remus and Peter—"

"Well, obviously, James, they're her friends! But you see, she does act differently around you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah," said James bitterly, "she hates me."

"She really doesn't. Give her time. Meanwhile, you have to listen to those three things I told you about: deflate, stop hexing, and treat her individually. Got that?"

"Yes, thank you very much, Alice—and Frank."

When the couple left, James sighed and buried his face into his arms. This wasn't going to be easy, for someone as hardheaded as Lily Evans. But he'd try.

And for the next few days, James tried. But his tries failed one by one, and soon, he forgot all about trying to respect and gain Lily's friendship and trust, and went back to his own arrogant self. Remus often wondered when James would finally "deflate his head a bit" and stop being the cocky and self-assuring boy that he was. 

However, something as big as deflating James' precious ego wasn't too easy. Remus knew that James' bold and cocky personality would change, but he often wondered if it was impossible. His ego was extremely large, yes, but that was what he stood for. He stood for cockiness, boldness, and arrogance. That's what Remus has always known him for best. But under that ego, Remus could also see a frightened, lonely, and uncertain teen, facing the tragedies of dying at the young age of twenty-one years old from a Dark wizard. 

The Marauders were certain that James would change. They knew that James really needed someone to guide and love him throughout his days: not them, not his family, but Lily. Lily would do the very thing—but only if she'd have him.

Lily was quite an extraordinary girl. She stood up for other students' rights, even Slytherins like Snape, and did whatever she could to make Hogwarts an enjoyable place for the younger students. However, Little Miss Perfect did have one flaw, and it was being blind when something was there right in front of her. She didn't even blink when James Potter desperately ruffled his hair and played with his Snitch to make her impressed; instead, she started to yell at him for being an egotist. When academics were involved, Lily understood everything. But when love was involved, Lily didn't understand a thing and didn't have a clue as to where to start. So whenever love was in front of Lily, she avoided as far as possible.

Both Lily and James' friends knew that they had to settle the whole dispute by themselves. They tried every matchmaking method possible, but none seemed to work for this couple. In fact, Arabella suggested to offer someone a handful of Galleons if they could actually get them together. For both were brilliant students; both stubborn; and both blind to love. It really made a horrible collaboration as one, but somehow, fate would allow them to be together and to die together. 

Both have had their share of conversations, of course.

"Hey, Moony?" said Sirius one December day. "D'you think it's possible that Lily and Prongs won't get together and will go their separate ways. And when it does happen—"

"Padfoot, they're going to get together. Prongs just has to work out some priorities."

"I don't know if he can do it by himself."

"Trust me, Padfoot, Prongs is capable. Even though he's not progressing now, I know he will. With the rise of Voldemort terrifying our world, he'll go through such a dramatic change that Lily will be shocked to see the change in him. Really, it'll happen."

"Oh? And how do you know this, O Prophetic One?"

"Because I know. Listen, Padfoot. Lily and James are two different people. Lily's smart, studious, and wise beyond her years. James is arrogant, self-centered, smart, and loving sometimes. As they say, opposites attract. Those two stubborn prats are meant for each other."

And so they were.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all the goodies, and I own basically nothing, except for the story and the pathetic characters that I made up with my distorted imagination. 

A/N: *sigh* All right, no one tell me that this story is going to the dogs…because I know it is! It's so sad, isn't it? And it's so angsty and gloomy—I know, I want lots and lots of fluffiness too! I love fluffy stories, with Lily and James under the stars, saying romantic things *dreamy look* My point is, I know this chapter was really, shall we say, stupid, but it did have a bit of the cocky and bullying James as described in OotP. Thank you to all my reviewers, however! I can't believe you actually like my story!

Everyone read "Naked Quidditch Match"! It's hilarious! I would say it to be rated PG-13 or R, and it may be a bit inappropriate, but if you thrive on inappropriateness, then I suggest you read it. Copy and paste the link if the actual link doesn't work.


	20. Fifth Year: Part Three

Fifth Year – Part Three

"I do think that people should've at least known that our O.W.L.s were near," commented Lily, staring as a hysterical Frieda Lawrence was carried off to the Hospital Wing on an invisible stretcher, guided by a sulking Mark Goldstein.

Remus smiled. "Well, you know, Lily, you're the one who's actually been studying for the O.W.L.s."

"And you haven't?"

"Er—well, don't tell Jenny that I have," he pleaded.

"All right, everyone, I guess this is the end of our meeting," said Teresa loudly. "I'm afraid, without our Ravenclaw prefects, that we can't accomplish anything. You are dismissed."

"That was such a waste of time," muttered Lily, as they exited the Prefect's Lounge. "We didn't accomplish a single bloody thing! I mean, what's there to be afraid of for the O.W.L.s? She could've studied! But, oh, they're drawing so near!"

"We have to memorize so many facts and spells and—oh, Merlin, my head's bursting just thinking about those bloody O.W.L.s," said Remus despairingly.

"Did someone mention O.W.L.s?" said Frank, one of the sixth year prefects, leaning curiously at the Gryffindor prefects. "Oh, I remember last year when we had to take it…" He groaned.

"It wasn't _that _bad, Frankie," argued Alice. "All right, History of Magic was a complete failure, but the rest were all right, I suppose."

"I failed Divination," informed Frank, nodding at Lily and Remus. "I couldn't see a single bloody thing in that stupid crystal ball, so I made stuff up. Trelawney definitely wasn't convinced. I got a 'D' in it when my O.W.L. results came."

"You see, this is why I didn't take Divination. I took Arithmancy instead, and it turned out to be a very good choice, if I do say so myself." Alice drew herself up in dignity.

Lily still didn't look very convinced, and she chewed her nails in worry. Alice saw this immediately and took charge by grabbing Lily's hands away from her mouth.

"Lily Evans, what do you think you are doing?"

"Oh, Alice, I can't _help _it! I always chew my nails when I'm nervous."

Remus gave an odd bark-like laugh that was very similar to Sirius'. "Lily, you've gotten mostly O's and a few E's on your homework this year, and you're still worried? You'll do fine!"

"The worst of it is, Potter and Sirius never study, and they still do just as well!" she continued, rambling furiously.

"It is aggravating," admitted Alice. "I do know exactly how you feel. You see, Frank here has always gotten exceptional grades, and he doesn't even look at a textbook! How he got to be a prefect when McGonagall could've chosen Sturges Diggle from his dorm is beyond me—"

"Hey! For your information, I'm much smarter than Diggle, and I'm prettier."

Lily and Alice giggled, while Remus and Frank shared looks that clearly said, "We men will never understand women."

"Moony!" exclaimed Sirius, bounding along the corridor tailed closely behind by James and Peter. "I see you're back early."

"Yes, Padfoot," said Remus, rolling his eyes. "You've just stated the obvious."

"How did you know that we were let out one hour earlier?" asked Lily in wonder.

"So, what happened that made Teresa change her mind about the meeting?" continued Sirius, ignoring Lily's question.

"Frieda Lawrence had a nervous breakdown and went into hysterics," explained Remus, chuckling slightly at the memory. "Mark had to take her to the Hospital Wing. Teresa decided it best to cancel the meeting, as our Ravenclaws were indisposed."

"It was a complete waste of time," said Lily angrily. "I could've done my Charms homework in those fifteen minutes!"

James rolled his eyes. "Are you still thinking about those stupid O.W.L.s, Evans? Surely you know that someone like you will obviously do well in them. You'll probably get all the O.W.L.s you need to become an Auror."

"How did you know I wanted to become an Auror?" asked Lily. "You Marauders are full of surprises every day."

"Our little secret," murmured Sirius, winking impetuously. 

"Alice and I are going to become Aurors as well," reported Frank, beaming. "They're very elite, of course, but we've already got all the O.W.L.s we need for it. All we have to do is to get the N.E.W.T.s that are required to become one. Oh, and to pass all those tests during Auror training."

"But the bad part," said Peter mournfully, "is that we have to do Potions for our sixth and seventh year, since it's very useful for Aurors."

James groaned. "Don't remind me, Wormtail. Potions with Hurst for an extra two years…what WAS I thinking? But I really do need to become an Auror, so I suppose I just have to face the music."

"I hear that Hurst is only going to accept people with an 'O' on their Potions O.W.L.," remarked Lily, her nerves getting the better of her again.

"Don't worry, you'll get into Potions class next year," reassured Alice, smiling. "I mean, Frank and I managed to scrape an 'O' in our O.W.L.s last year, but boy, it definitely wasn't easy—"

"We studied an extra four hours on Potions," said Frank heavily.

"You actually spent precious time doing that?" said James incredulously.

"Hey, Alice made me, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Jamie, when you're in love, you tend to do anything the love of your life wants you to do."

"That's not fair." James frowned.

"So that means Prongs will jump off the London Bridge, since he's in love with—OUCH! Merlin's beard, what did you do that for, Moony?" Sirius glared at Remus.

"Padfoot, I do believe you need to reconsider finishing that," said James, through gritted teeth.

"What the—oh yeah, whoops, what was I thinking?" Sirius laughed nervously.

"Er—" Frank, Alice, and Lily raised their eyebrows at the foursome, and then shrugging. After all, the Marauders had their strange moments very often.

"So how many hours did you spend studying for your O.W.L.s?" asked Lily, as they proceeded to the Fat Lady's portrait on the seventh floor.

"Oh, I'd say, maybe eight to twelve hours," replied Alice casually. Noticing the five fifth years' stares, she added, "It wasn't too long, some people spent nearly twenty-four hours a day studying."

"Merlin," whispered Sirius hoarsely. "_Twelve bloody hours? _That's complete hell!"

"We spent a third of the time on Potions, and the other two-thirds on the rest of the subjects. I suggested to study an extra two hours at night, but Frank wouldn't hear of it."

"Surely not!" cried the four Marauders. 

"We're not even going to study, period," added James.

Frank and Alice both stared at them without blinking, as if trying to comprehend James' comment.

"Not study?" choked the latter. "You'll fail, then!"

"So let it be," said Sirius nonchalantly. "What difference will it make? Of course, Prefect Moony will study, since he's such a goody-two-shoes…"

"Padfoot," warned Remus, looking irritated.

"Oh, so sorry, Prefect Moony."

"Padfoot, shove it."

"You guys are so immature," said Alice, sighing. "Frank, I do pity you for being neighbors with Potter."

"I send you my condolences, Frank," agreed Lily, wincing at the very thought of having James as a neighbor, let alone classmate.

"Thank you, ladies," said Frank, smiling amusedly, "but, really, once you get to know James, he's a nice guy and a romantic at heart…"

"Frank," mumbled James, turning rather red at the ears. The other three Marauders sniggered.

"Oh, what does he do, Frank?" queried Sirius eagerly. "Write love poems for Lily?"

"Well, I don't know why you're all laughing," said Alice defiantly. "I think it's rather sweet." She smiled at a very scarlet Lily.

"I was just joshing, James." The sixth year grinned and ruffled James' already-untidy hair affectionately.

"Hey!"

"What? You always make your hair messier than it already is, so I may as well help you. Oh yeah, and I don't know what the girls think, but I don't really think that messy hair attracts females."

"It certainly doesn't attract me," put in Alice.

"But you see, Alice," whispered Sirius, so that only she could hear it, "Jamie wants to impress Lily and Lily only—"

Alice's mouth curved upwards into a wide grin as her blue eyes glinted evilly at Lily and James, who were now blushing furiously.

"Padfoot, shut up!" said the very crimson latter.

"Aww…but why, Prongs? Annoying the hell out of you is fun!"

"Padfoot," chided Remus, sighing helplessly. "Some people just never change…"

"Well, why should I?"

"Why do you guys have those funny nicknames anyway?" said Alice curiously.

"Er—" The four Marauders looked at each other, wide-eyed. 

"Well, c'mon, you can tell us!" she urged.

"Uh…"

"Well, you see, it's a secret," said James.

"A secret?" repeated Alice blankly. 

"Oh, yes, a secret. You see, it all began when Moony was just a wee baby—"

"All right, we get the point, Potter," snapped Lily impatiently. "Don't even try to get answers out of them, Alice. They never give you a direct one, no matter how simple the question is."

Alice giggled. "Thanks for the note there, Lils."

"Lily, where were you?" said Arabella, nearly bouncing on top of Lily, followed shortly by Jennifer and Violet. "Sirius told us that you guys came out early from the meeting…"

"Yeah, Lawrence fainted," said Remus. "Pressure of the O.W.L.s, we all think."

"Don't tease," scolded Jennifer. "The O.W.L.s are pressuring."

"But you see," said Lily logically, "if you guys studied beforehand, you wouldn't be so nervous."

"Like you?" asked James acrimoniously.

"Like me."

"And you thought _I _was an patronizing git."

"You are."

"Ha! Well, what about you? You just said that you aren't nervous, and now you're bragging to your own friends that you studied beforehand. At least I don't brag to Sirius, Remus, or Peter."

"You do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do n—"

"Oh, will you please put a cork on it?" yelled Frank, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll help you, Frank," said a demure voice from the portrait hole, and sure enough, Trish Vance preceded and put a Silencing Charm on Lily and James, causing them to argue, though with no effect whatsoever.

"Hello Trish," greeted Frank, smiling. "How are you today?"

Lily was mouthing furiously, and Arabella said the counter-curse, allowing Lily and James to speak again.

"Why did you do that for?" the former exclaimed. "You could've told us to stop, and we would have!"

"Well, I do love to do it more professionally, you know," replied Trish, batting her eyelashes at Frank.

Alice narrowed her eyes and whispered to Lily, "That's Trish Vance. She's in Gryffindor, and in the same year as Frank and I. She's in my dorm as well, and what an idiot she is. It's been old news that Trish has been trying to get Frank since fourth year. But unfortunately, it's obvious that she hasn't."

Lily grinned and stifled a laugh. "Frank doesn't seem to mind flirting with her."

"Well, Frank has always been intimidated by her, though he constantly tells me that he loves me and he'd never dump me for a girl like _her._ But what do guys know? They only go for the good-looking girls with a brain the size of a Knut."

"Oh, Lise, Frank **does **love you! That Trish would never get him."

"I hope so," said Alice, sighing, watching helplessly as Trish grabbed Frank's hand and pressed it firmly with her own, "I hope so."

***

"Well, it's the first time you've ever been wrong, Lily," said Alice furiously, as she collapsed into an armchair. It was the Easter holidays now, and the weather was warming up considerably. Most of the Gryffindors had gone home for the holidays, but the Marauders, the girls, and a few older students decided to stay at Hogwarts, as usual.

"What happened, Al?" asked Arabella, concerned.

"Frank dumped me for that bi—idiot," spat Alice, burying her head into her arms. "My life is now officially over. Frank specifically told me that he'd always be with me and he'd never dump me for another girl, because there's no one else he'd rather be with than me. And what does he do? He dumps me right then and there! Of course, I'm not going to cry, since that's so stupid. Why cry over Frank anyway? He wasn't much good. 'Sides, I got a new boyfriend."

"Already?" said Lily, surprised.

"Yeah. Apparently, Sturges Diggle has had a crush on me since third year, and he asked me out straight away after the news spread that Frank Longbottom and Alice Hart have officially broke up."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? Diggle's a sweet and nice guy, and he would never dump you, would he? Since he's carried a torch for you for three years."

"Yeah, Sturges is awesome. But"—Alice sighed—"he's not Frank."

"Look," said Arabella excitedly, beaming at the older girl, "I have a plan that'll put Frank in shame that he ever dumped you."

Alice looked up, her eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

"Yep. Now, all you have to do is be all fluffy and—you know, to Sturges, and then Frank will get jealous and then he'll apologize, and you'll be back together in no time! Oh, and there's dumping Sturges, but he'll understand, I'm sure…"

"So you want me to use poor Sturges? Oh, no, not that. I really do like Sturges, and I don't want to hurt the poor boy. Who knows? Maybe Alice Diggle sounds better than Alice Longbottom."

"Actually, I really don't think it does," said James casually, appearing out of nowhere. "I heard about you and Frank."

"And?"

"You guys make the perfect couple, and you should get back together again."

"No WAY, James Potter. Frank is now a distant acquaintance to me. Who knew he'd break a promise so sacred and full of love? Now I've realized that he's a complete prat, and that Sturges is much better than _he _is. I don't know what I was thinking when I started to date him in fourth year."

"'Cause you love him, Al," said Sirius quietly, standing next to James.

"I do not! He's an insufferable git!"

"Alice?" whispered Frank, coming down from the sixth year boys' dormitory. "Alice, I think we need to talk."

Alice stood up abruptly. "Oh, do you? Well, let me tell you something, Longbottom. You are nothing but a prat and a promise-breaker. You're nothing more to me now. I'm with Sturges, and you can have your beloved Trish after wanting her for so many years. I know Sturges can make me happy; much happier than you can make me!" She marched into her dorm and slammed the door behind her.

Frank sighed and ran a hand through his light brown curls distractedly. 

"You know you deserve it, Frank," said Sirius seriously (no pun intended).

"What? I know. But—oh, it's so confusing! What was I thinking, dumping my beautiful and wonderful Alice for that idiot Trish? Now Lisa will never forgive me. I may as well start preparing for her wedding with Diggle."

Surprisingly, James smiled. "You know that's not true. Alice still loves you, Frank. I know how you feel, being rejected when all you want to do is give love instead of taking it away."  


Everyone fell silent. They had never heard James talk so emotionally, and Lily was especially surprised. Though she wasn't aware of it, her hatred for James began its process of thawing.

Frank smiled back. "You know, James, it wouldn't kill to get a girlfriend yourself. Unless if you're still pining for—er—_her._"

James nodded sadly, and the Marauders and Frank grinned, while the girls exchanged looks of perplexity. The high and mighty James Potter, pining for a girl that's playing hard-to-get? It was very unbelievable indeed.

"Who's 'her'?" they asked simultaneously.

Sirius grinned. "I'm afraid we cannot tell you four lovely ladies."

"Why not?" demanded Arabella.

"Bella, I don't trust you to keep my mate's secret."

"Why not?"

"'Cause…"

"It's between us guys," supplemented Frank.

"Besides, you'd tell the girl if you knew," said James softly, looking to Arabella's eyes, and she instantly understood.

"Oh, James, you finally realize it, do you?" she said, smiling widely.

James turned red. "Don't mock," he ordered.

"What are you all talking about?" said Lily impatiently. "What girl?"

Arabella rolled her eyes at Jennifer and Violet, and all three of them giggled. The Marauders (excluding Peter) and Frank shook their heads, muttering, "Girls."

"Lily, I do think it's obvious, don't you?" said Remus, smiling very slightly.

"Oh, Remus, I thought you'd have the common sense of the group? What are you guys talking about?"

"Don't tell her," ordered James.

"I wasn't going to, Prongs. I was merely going to—let's say—give her a hint, shall we? We do want to make your life easier, you know."

Lily still stared at them with confusion. _What kind of girl is Potter pining for? Is it Violet? She's single. Ugh, stupid Potter! Why, I'm so much better than Vi. Wait a minute, what am I _thinking? _This has to be from lack of sleep._

"Hello? Evans?"

"W-What?"

James raised his eyebrows. "I was wondering if you can help me with a Silencing Charm."

"Potter, we've learned that at the beginning of the year!"

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault I stink at Charms. Besides, you're so good, and I know you can help me get it right!"

Lily smiled, unable to restrain it back any longer. Everyone else looked at her in surprise. They had expected her to start yelling at James again. The three Marauders and girls exchanged joyful looks with each other.

"Oh, fine, Ja—Potter. Let's go then."

James beamed and followed her to a table, feeling as though his birthday, Christmas, and summer vacation had come early.

"Now," began Lily, "the Silencing Charm is a sharp jab, so don't do a light swish or anything. And try not to cause an accident; Bella nearly took an eye out from the frog she was practicing on once."

He chuckled and stared at Lily, muttering, _"Silencio!"_ To his disappointment, Lily continued to talk incessantly.

"What did I do wrong?" he whined.

"Potter, I told you to do a sharp jab. Think of it like you're about to poke me in the eye or something, but don't—er—actually do it."

__

"Silencio!" cried James, and nearly stabbed Lily with the end of his wand. However, he did accomplish the charm, for Lily was mouthing silently, without uttering a word out loud. "I did it!"

Lily was still mouthing furiously, and she frowned and started to mouth silently, pointing to her mouth.

"What is it, Evans? Oh, right! The counter-curse—erm—"

__

"Talkitus," said Frank, pointing his wand at Lily. She smiled in relief.

"Thanks, Frank."

"No problem."

"I did try," insisted James, feeling a strong possessiveness to the redhead. "Please, Evans, don't hurt me."

"What gave you an idea that I was going to hurt you?" inquired Lily, surprised.

"Well…weren't you?" James cocked his head sideways questioningly.

"Not particularly thinking of it, though I will be only too happy to do it if you want me to."

Frank chortled, clapping James on the back. "I'll be finding Alice now, Potter. Good luck with your girl." He disappeared into his dormitory.

"Your girl?" said Lily, frowning.

"It's a secret," he said hastily, silently cursing Frank for saying it out loud.

"Oh? And I'm not going to be let in on it?"

"'Fraid not, Evans. Besides, you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, really?" Lily placed her hands on her hips. "And why wouldn't I?"

"Because—" He sighed dismally, and looked away. "Because you don't care enough."

***

__

"Lily, I love you," whispered an older James Potter, as he cradled Lily into his chest. "No matter what happens, I'll always love you. You know that."

"I know, James, it's just that – I'm scared," whispered Lily, hugging his neck.

"Lily look at me," he ordered. "Whatever happens, nothing will stop us from loving each other. Voldemort's not going to tear us apart if I can help it."

"Oh, James! I love you, too. And – gosh, why are you so irresistible?"

He chuckled and kissed Lily deeply and passionately. They broke off nearly a minute later, both breathless and with fluttering hearts.

"You're my flower, Lily, and I'm never letting you go."

Lily smiled at the engagement ring on her left hand, and kissed James lightly on his cheek. "You're so sweet, James. It seems impossible how only yesterday I told you to back off Snape. And now you're telling me all these wonderful things. I have no idea how you went through that change."

"It was because I finally realized that I was being a prat, and an egotistical one at that. I knew that a change was needed, especially since the Wizarding world needs Aurors like me to protect everyone from Voldemort. He's gaining so much power now."

"James, you're not an Auror yet," corrected Lily smiling at her fiancé's determination.

"I know. But I also know that I'm going to be an Auror no matter what it takes."

"Now I know why I agreed to marry you. Two years ago, I would've hexed you into oblivion if you asked me for my hand in marriage. And now I'm the happiest woman on earth because I'm going to get married to the man I love and live as much of life as I can."

"Aww…Lils, you're too sweet." A single tear trickled down James' cheek, and a stunned Lily wiped it off, hugging him closely.

"Aren't I though? But I do think I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

"For being such a stubborn prat these years. I've always loved you, ever since fifth year, and yet I've been trying to trick myself out of my love for you. I'm so sorry, James."

"Now, now, sweetie, there's no reason to be sorry. I'm definitely not. I'm getting married to the most wonderful woman in the world soon. I can't be happier."

Lily smiled and the two lovers held each other, oblivious to their surroundings. For their love was unconquerable, and they'd always have each other, no matter what.

Lily woke up, sweat pouring down her face, as she breathed quickly and harshly. She had just woken up from another one of her visions, and it affected her more than any of the others.

"Lily? You there?" Arabella sat up groggily, wiping her eyes and blinking at the blurry redhead.

"What's wrong?" asked Violet, concerned. "Did you have another vision again?"

"Yes."

"What was it about?" said Jennifer curiously.

"Oh, you won't believe it. Potter and I were sitting **next to each other**, and we were saying words of love. It was so sick, I swore I was going to throw up or do something drastic. Surprisingly, Potter was actually—I don't know—pleasant in the dream, and he was a romantic, just like Frank had said. What does it all mean?"

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you think it means? James is going to change, obviously! He's going to grow out of hexing innocent people and strutting around the school like he's a king or something. Well, that's a good thought, at least."

Lily snorted. "Impossible! Potter…changing? That's as unlikely as Gryffindors and Slytherins becoming chummy with each other."

"Don't think like that," warned Violet, shaking her head. "James is a nice guy, and you should give him a chance, Lily. You never did let him change."

"Well, I hope he's not going to change for _me_! I just want him to change because he realizes that hexing people, especially Snape, doesn't do good, and it makes you stoop low to the same level as Slytherins."

Jennifer sighed, exchanging exasperated looks with Arabella and Violet. Suddenly, she gave a dazzling grin, showing off all her teeth, and it reminded Lily strongly of Gilderoy Lockhart.

"What're you grinning at?" she demanded.

"You love Potter, that's what. Merlin's beard, you really do love him! Oh, this is brilliant!" Jennifer was nearly in hysterics.

"Well, of course she does, Jen," said Arabella matter-of-factly. "Where have you been?"

"No, no, not that. It's just that Lily loves James. It's not just a simple crush; it's true love that's unbreakable in any way. It's a simple, pure, beautiful love."

"Yes," agreed Violet dreamily, her eyes shining. "It's so romantic."

"Vi!" Jennifer scoffed.

"What?"

"Don't be a goose. You're always in for romantic things."

"So are you! Ever since you started dating Remus, that is, in our second year. It's been three years and you two still haven't had a fight yet. Quite a miracle, in my opinion. Sirius and Bella have gotten into three fights and a million bickers."

"Don't jinx it, then. As I was saying before Vi rudely interrupted—"

"Lily and James are madly in love," supplied Arabella.

"Oh, yes, right! Lily, you and James are in love with each other. It's that simple. Don't look at me like that! There's nothing to argue over; it's so obvious."

"Why do you keep insisting that I love Potter? Do you love to torture me so?"

"Yes," replied the other three girls simultaneously. Lily rolled her eyes and threw her pillow straight across the room, hitting Violet square on the face.

Soon there was a jumble of pillows flying about the room, while the four fifth year girls squealed and shouted, waking up nearly everyone in Gryffindor Tower. Girls from other dormitories dragged their sleeping belongings to their dorm, flustered and angry, and yelling for them to stop disturbing their "beauty sleep". 

Finally, McGonagall had come into their dormitory with her usual stiff black hair in curlers and wearing a tartan nightdress. She squinted at them through her spectacles and her eyes widened when she realized that Lily was one of the occupants.  


"Ms. Evans!" she exclaimed in horror. "You are a prefect! You know better than to wake up Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning. I do expect better of you."

Lily flushed. "Oh, please, Professor, I really didn't mean it. You won't deduct points from Gryffindor, will you?" 

McGonagall sighed. "I suppose not, at least not today. But I do hope this won't happen again."

"No, Professor," the four girls chorused, amid snickers and finger-pointing.

"Well," began Jennifer, as everyone left, "that was interesting."

"Very."

-

The dreaded O.W.L.s were finally over with as the fifth years headed outside for a well-deserved break after their last exam. The Marauders and the girls went to different directions: the former to the shade under a tree and the latter next to the lake. The main reason for their ignorance with each other was because of Lily and James, whom were both furious with the other.

Nearly two days ago, James had hexed Snape openly after an O.W.L. exam, and Lily had intervened, having not able to stand the tyranny of the latter any longer. The result was not wonderful; Lily had not "deflated" James' head, and James got even more rejection from the girl he loved. Life was not going well for the both of them.

The Marauders had taken refuge under the very same tree where a famous trio would be under twenty years later. They were planning their summer, and decided to not have anything to do with the girls, for the two groups were not getting along well at all. Arabella and Jennifer were still Sirius and Remus' girlfriends, respectively, of course, but they weren't as close as they were before the lake incident. They did, however, agree that they should be over at James' house for one week that summer just to plan more havoc. 

The girls had also agreed to a reunion during the summer, and it was decided that it would be at Arabella's house, since Jennifer's parents were going to France for their wedding anniversary. They readily decided not to invite the Marauders over, for there was still a stiff, unsettling tension between them now, and the chummy feelings were gone. 

Now Lily and James have come to an unsettled agreement and hadn't talked to each other ever since the "incident" with Snape. After Lily had stalked off when James refused to listen to her and was planning to take off Snape's pants, they had started an argument in the common room that night. It had ended when Lily finally shouted at James that Snape would hate Harry when he grew up because of the poor treatment James had given the former in their old school days. So now the two used-to-be-friendly groups were on in their own worlds, discussing topics unrelated to each other.

"Snivellus was lucky that Evans was there, or I would've done something even more drastic," said James, yawning, as he played with his Snitch carelessly, while Peter gasped and applauded once more.

"Definitely," agreed Sirius, sighing. "But I wish that the girls would speak to us; I mean, it's all over now, isn't it? Arabella won't even look at me when we pass in the corridors or something."

"Then that's her problem, isn't it? I don't know why they won't speak to us, Padfoot, since this is only between Evans and me. You guys should just go back to being good friends with each other."

"But they don't want to," put in Remus, looking rather wild at not having talked to Jennifer for more than he could stand.

"Well, like I said, it's their problem."

"Prongs, why don't you and Lily become friends?" asked Peter, exasperated.

"Exactly my point," agreed Sirius. Remus nodded emphatically as well.

"Wormtail, you do know that I really like Lily—maybe even love her. But she hates me. I may as well give up. I mean, how can she not hate me?"

Remus smiled. "That, Prongs, is called the process of deflating and becoming a gentleman."

"Excuse me?"

"No offense, Prongs, but your ego is a bit—er—"

"Bigger than it should be," finished Sirius.

"And that's the main reason why Lily doesn't like you—or so she says. She's seeing the façade that you put on to hide your real self. You're seriously trying to belie yourself, Prongs. Show Lily the real you…the James that was determined to help my transformations get better by going against the law and endangering yourselves. And the James that is caring and thoughtful and always helping whenever he can. That's the James you have to show Lily in order for her to care for you."

"That was beautiful, Moony," croaked Sirius, his voice cracking. 

"You're right, Moony," said James, smiling, afraid that tears were about to pour out of his eyes at any minute. "But how do I do all that?"

"We'll begin this September, when sixth year starts," said Remus, secretly happy that James was finally going to let go of that ego he possessed in great amounts.

"Thanks guys." James gave them all a brotherly hug. "I owe you for life."

"Nah, consider it a freebie favor," said Sirius, winking. They all chuckled at his antics.

Meanwhile, the girls were by the lake, dipping their feet into the cool water and feeling the tentacles of the giant squid touch their soles lightly. 

"Finally, the evil O.W.L.s are over," said Arabella gratefully.

"Finally," echoed Jennifer and Violet.

"It wasn't that bad," said Lily optimistically, "though the Divination one was a disaster, I tell you. Professor Marshbanks was looking at me like I was mad when I told her that she was suffer from heart pains for the rest of her life."

"I told Tofty that he'd lose all his money and that his lifeline was as short as his hair," said Arabella, shrugging. "He wasn't so happy about it, to tell you the truth."

"That's because you should've told him that he'd grown as old as Dumbledore and become rich," said Jennifer promptly. "That's what I told Tofty, and he started beaming at me like I was his granddaughter or something. It works with nearly everyone except for Trelawney."

"That's 'cause she's a miserable bat," said Violet gloomily. "I failed Potions too…I couldn't get the last ingredient for the Remedial Potion."

"It was leeches," said Lily.

"Oh, was it? I said it was bat ears."

"Bats don't have ears, Vi," corrected Arabella, giggling. 

"They do! How else are they supposed to fly so well?"

"With their eyes…"

"Bats are blind!"

"Now, now girls," chided Lily. "We're almost at the end of our fifth year; you should at least be kind to each other."

"Yes, Mum."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Evans, Figg, Dean, and Walker." Trish Vance sneered at them, while clutching Frank's arm painfully.

"Hello, Trish, Frank," greeted Lily through gritted teeth. "I see you've been enjoying yourselves."

Frank sighed immediately, rolling his eyes, while Trish pretended not to notice and said, "Oh, we're having the time of our lives! Ever since Frank dumped that Hart girl, he's been happier than ever."

"Are you sure about that?" said Jennifer sharply.

"Of course I'm sure, Dean. Who _wouldn't _be happy with me?" She gave Jennifer a smug smile.

"I wouldn't," the latter muttered under her breath.

"Frankie? Why so quiet?"

"Don't call me that," he ordered.

"Why not? I think it's utterly cute!"

"It's—it's what Alice used to call me."

Trish narrowed her eyes. "You mean Hart? Well, at least she has fine taste in nicknames, I have to say—"

"Alice is better than you," interrupted Lily, her green eyes blazing. "She's kind, considerate, smart, _and _she's a prefect. And you're just a low-life brat who's jealous of her! Yes, that's right! Jealous!"

"My dear Evans, I do believe you're raving," said Trish smoothly, though her delicate cheeks looked rather flustered. "Perhaps a bit of pumpkin juice will do the trick…"

"Leave her alone, Trish," said Frank quietly. 

"Why should I?" she demanded angrily.

"Because she's right," said Arabella coolly. "Alice is so much better than you. You are just jealous—jealous that Alice has Frank and everything that you've ever wanted."

Trish snorted. "Hart doesn't have Frankie anymore. He dumped her, remember?"

The four girls looked at Frank expectantly, as if wanting him to say that he still loved Alice. But he remained silent, looking at his reflection on the lake. Trish huffed and stomped off back to the castle again.

"Why don't you get Alice back?" hissed Lily.

"She hates me," was his only coherent reply.

"Well, I don't blame her. If you don't get her back, then…see you at her wedding."

"Wedding?" Frank spluttered.

"Yeah. Sturges is planning to ask her to marry him next year. So if you don't hurry up, she'll be Alice Diggle instead of Alice Longbottom."

With that said, Lily led her friends back to the castle, leaving a stunned Frank Longbottom behind.

***

"Potter," said Lily venomously. "You have to let us share this compartment! There's no where else to sit. The only one with space in it is occupied by Snape and his gang. C'mon, please?"

"I thought you rather favored Snape, since you so willingly stood up for him a few days ago," replied James coolly. "Go off with you now; we're not going to allow you the pleasure."

"James…" 

__

Did Evans just call me James? James shook his head. _Maybe I should give her a chance. After all, Moony told me that I had to start the process of deflation soon._

"Oh, fine, Evans, you can take this compartment. If it makes you any happier, I'll go and sit with the Slytherins so you can have my seat, since there aren't enough in this compartment."

Lily looked surprised. "No, you don't have to, Potter, I'll just sit on the floor if I have to—"

"Oh, no, I do insist." With that said, James swept out of the compartment, not giving a single last glance.

"That was sweet of him," commented Jennifer, smiling. "I never knew James had it in him."

Remus grinned mischievously and exchanged delighted looks with Sirius and Peter, who understood James' whole plan of changing everything he was known for.

"All right, Remus Lupin, tell me what James is really planning," whispered Jennifer, frowning.

"He's started," said the werewolf briefly.

"Started **what**?"

"The process."

"The process of _what_? Remus!"

"Oh, just kidding, Jenny. Prongs—James—is starting the process of deflation. You know, deflating his ego, stuff like that. It's working, too."

"That's wonderful!"

"What's wonderful?" said Lily suspiciously.

"Nothing," the couple replied automatically.

"Whatever."

Meanwhile, James was having bad luck in the Slytherins' compartment.

"You owe me, Potter," said Snape viciously. "You owe me your whole life."

"Sure, Snivellus," said James cheerfully. "Whatever you say! How are you today?"

"Absolutely spiffing," replied the greasy-haired boy sarcastically.

"Potter, tell us what you're doing here with us Slytherins when you should be conversing with your slimy Gryffindor friends," said Rosier, frowning.

"My dear Evan, don't be so sour! I want to be friends with you; don't you understand?"

Bellatrix and Narcissa snorted with disbelief, and Lestrange raised his eyebrows.

After the uneventful train ride, the eight of them met their parents. James grinned as he spotted his parents waving next to a Ministry car.

"You didn't come out of the same compartment as your friends," said Mr. Potter immediately.

"Yeah, the girls came to sit with us, and there wasn't enough room for Lily, so I decided to—er—go to another compartment."

"That's so sweet, James," said Mrs. Potter tearfully. "I didn't know my son was such a gentleman!"

"You didn't sit with Hufflepuffs, did you?" Mr. Potter was thunderstruck.

"Er—no, actually, I sat with the Slytherins." James closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come.

"WHAT?"

"It was the only compartment with space in it!"

Just then, Lily left her parents and stood in front of James, her cheeks red. 

"Yes?" said James curtly.

"C-Can I speak to you privately?"

As they reached a part of King's Cross that was inhabited, Lily blurted, "Look, thanks."

"For what?"

"For giving me your seat in the train and having to sit with those awful Slytherins." Lily made a face.

James laughed. "It's no problem, Evans—Lily."

Lily smiled and hugged James. "See you this September…James."

James looked dazed, watching Lily go back with her parents again. She had called him by his first name, instead of "Potter"! He felt as though he could jump for joy, but fought the urge, as he went back to his parents again, beaming.

__

There's hope after all, he thought joyously, as he got into the car.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns all the characters that you recognize from _Harry Potter._

A/N: I'm so sorry that I kept you waiting for this chapter, but it's done, and I'm rather pleased with it…not. It's terrible again, I know, but I'm getting major Writer's Block! However, I do have stuff planned for Lily and James' summers…especially for James. This summer is where he gets a new companion moving in with his family—three guesses to whom, for those that have read _Phoenix._ I can't wait until this story is over, because they I can start writing "I'd Never Hate You", which is another L/J fic and will be much better than this one! For details, see my bio under my pen name.


	21. Summer of Fifth Year

Summer of Fifth Year

James sighed contentedly, watching the sunrise from his large bay window in his room. He yawned, stretching, and blinked blearily at his clock, which was in the shape of a Quaffle. It was six o'clock in the morning, surprisingly, but what was the most surprising was that he was awake, since James usually slept very late in the summertime. But he just felt like waking up early today, since he had to do some thinking about his favorite topic: Lily Evans.

He finally admitted to himself that he was in love with her, but he hadn't told Sirius, Remus, or Peter yet. He chuckled, trying to imagine their reactions. Sirius would jump for joy, Remus would smile knowingly, and Peter—well—Peter would just be _Peter._

__

If only Lily can overlook my bad qualities, thought James sadly. It was then that he had gotten the brilliant plan of changing himself.

He had gotten it all planned. He would stop hexing innocent bystanders for no coherent reason, but Snape would be an exception, since he was, well, Snape, and a Slytherin. Next, he would try to stop calling Lily by her surname, and concentrate on calling her by her given first name. And lastly, he would act more humble about his skills and not show off, though Quidditch would be an exception.

Yes, James had it all planned out…but he spent nights lying awake on his bed, thinking if it would work. Because if it did work, he would be the most ecstatic boy on earth; but if it didn't work, he'd be dead meat, and Lily would hate him even more than she did now, if that was at all possible. However, he was interrupted from his thoughts by Mrs. Potter calling him to breakfast.

James managed to drag himself downstairs, where his parents were already seated. Jacey, one of their house-elves, was dishing out platters of toast, eggs, and an assortment of rolls and muffins. 

"Good morning, Master James," she greeted amiably, as he plopped into a seat next to his father.

"'Morning, Jace," mumbled James sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "And do stop calling me 'Master James'; James would be fine."

"If Master—James wishes, sir."

"So what brings you to wake up so early, James?" asked Mr. Potter, as he lowered a copy of the _Daily Prophet _from his eyes. "Your mother heard you bustling upstairs, so she called you down early."

"Oh, just thinking."

"Care to elaborate?"

James blushed. "It's a bit private, Dad."

"Not about Lily, is it?"

"How did you know?" he asked in amazement.

Mr. Potter chuckled. "I'm your father, James, of course I'd know. Now tell me the problem."

So James ended up telling his parents about the whole story of how he realized that he was in love with Lily, and about his bitter rejection by the redhead. Mr. Potter listened sympathetically, and Mrs. Potter nodded once or twice.

"Lily is right, dear," said the latter thoughtfully, as he finished his tail, "you do need to stop hexing people. It's wrong, and I'm surprised that Professor Dumbledore hasn't noticed, or hasn't done anything about it."

"Er—I think he has, since he made Moon—Remus a prefect, hoping to change Sirius and I."

"No need to say that Remus' attempts have failed," said Mr. Potter wryly.

But before either of them could say another word, their fireplace had wavered, and disheveled-looking boy with a trunk, a broomstick, and an owl clutched in his arms fell out of it.

"Sirius?" said Mr. Potter blankly. "What are you doing here? I think you're a bit early, my boy, since you and the rest of James' friends are coming here next week, I do believe—"

"I know," breathed Sirius, "but I need to ask you all a favor."

The three Potters waited for him to speak again, curious as to what he had to say.

"I got into a fight with my parents again," he said, and James immediately sent his best friend a look of sympathy. "Mum was yelling at me for making the wrong choice of friends, as usual, but she insulted your family. Called you all blood traitors, because you favor Muggles and Muggle-borns, and she hates both. So I couldn't stand it anymore. Packed every single belonging of mine in this enlargement trunk and set off to your house. I was hoping that you—you can give me a place to stay at until I can get a job and get my own place."

"Of course you may stay here, Sirius," agreed Mrs. Potter tearfully. "You're always welcome here. It's a bit lonely in this large house with only the three of us…"

"Thank you," said Sirius, looking relieved. He grinned at James. "Looks like you've got yourself an adopted brother, Prongs."

James laughed, along with his parents. "You're the best kind of brother I can wish for, Padfoot. Welcome to the Potter family. Oh, but I do advise you to keep your surname as Black, however much as you hate it, since Sirius Potter will sound odd to everyone at school. They'll think we hit it off together and plan to get married as gay wizards."

Sirius and Mr. Potter snorted, while Mrs. Potter glared disapprovingly at her son, sighing.

"I'll keep my name, Prongs, just to make you happy and let you live up to your reputation. I do, however, wish you to not mention my family under my hearing again, if you please."

"We won't," chorused the three Potters.

"Good! Now…what's for breakfast?"

The Potters laughed again, shaking their heads at the hopelessness of Sirius, as Mrs. Potter sent Jacey to retrieve another plate for "Master Sirius".

"You guys have great house-elves," complimented Sirius, as he smiled gratefully at Jacey, who passed him a plateful of food. "Jacey's great, and is much better than Kreacher, who's mad. Tries to take every single belonging of my parents, especially Mum's, so that he can remember them when they're dead. Quite pathetic, really. Wants to be beheaded and hung by his head like his dear old mum."

Mr. Potter grinned. "Sounds like a nice and friendly fellow, doesn't he, James?"

"Oh, very, Dad."

"Oh, you three," said Mrs. Potter, sighing resignedly. 

"So I really am part of the family, then?" said Sirius, grinning maniacally. "Yes! Prongs and I are brothers!"

"Shut up, Padfoot," groaned James.

"Don't say 'shut up' to your brother, Prongs. It's mean."

"What do you all want to do today?" asked Mr. Potter absently. 

"Let's go over Frank's house and tell him the good news!" crowed Sirius.

"That's boring," complained James. "I've been to his house at least ten thousand times."

"Hey, I've never been to his house! Please, Prongs? _Please_?"

"Aww…fine, but you owe me, Padfoot."

So the two best friends set off to the Longbottom house. James rapped sharply on their door, and a small house-elf opened it.

"Mr. Potter!" it squeaked joyfully. "How are you?" It bowed.

"Hello, Nina," said James, waving. "Er—is Frank home?"

"Yes, Master Frank is at breakfast with the rest of his family, sir! Come right in, Master Potter. And has Master Potter brought along a friend?"

"Oh, yeah. This is Sirius Black, he's my best friend."

"Black?" the creature stuttered frighteningly.

"Hey, you came to our house once!" exclaimed Sirius, recognizing the elf's short ears and scar on its left cheek.

"Yes, sir. I-I met your house-elf, Kreacher…"

Sirius smiled gently. "Look, don't pay any attention to Kreacher, all right? He's just an old idiot; he's as harmless as a fly. Oh, and don't mind my old Mum either, she's a bit crazy in the head. I'm not like the rest of my family."

"I second to that," agreed James heartily.

"Come right in, Masters James and Sirius!" The house-elf bowed again and let them into a large, well-furnished kitchen, where Frank, his younger brother Al (short for Algie), and his parents were sitting down to a hearty breakfast.

"James!" he exclaimed, grinning, as he saw the two boys standing by the entrance. "Come in! And you've brought Sirius? I thought your friends were coming by next week."

"Sirius is staying with us now," answered James, "until he gets a home of his own after he graduates."

"Family issues," muttered Sirius bitterly. Frank nodded understandingly.

"Come have breakfast with us, boys," said Mr. Longbottom, nodding. 

"No, thank you, Mr. Longbottom, we've already had breakfast. Sirius just wanted to come by and—er—"

"Say hi!" finished Sirius, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"You can stay for the whole day," said Algie hopefully. "Uncle Algie is coming over today, and he's so _boring_…"

"Algie!" reproved Mrs. Longbottom, glaring at her youngest son. "Show some respect for the man you're named after."

"Sorry, Mum." Algie made a face when she turned back to her eggs.

"So how is it with Alice, Frank?" whispered James, as he seated himself next to the soon-to-be-seventh year boy.

"Terrible," mumbled Frank darkly, through a mouthful of toast. "I owled her three times, and she sent Harold back with three responses saying, 'I hate you, and stop bothering me. Sturges is a lot better than you are.' Stubborn girl, she is."

"Well, you can't blame her," said Sirius, his tone changing from ecstasy to seriousness *. "You didn't give her a reason for breaking up with her."

"Yeah, I suppose I do deserve this cold treatment, don't I? But guys, I explained to her why I broke up with her in the letter…"

"Did you tell her that you broke up with Trish?" interrupted James.

"No…"

"And why not?"

"Because I didn't—I didn't break up with Trish."

"_And why ever not?_"

"Look, James," sighed Frank. "It's not that easy, all right? I love Alice and I really like Trish, but I don't want to break Trish's heart, since it's been old news that she's liked me for nearly three years. I can't just break up with the poor girl just because of Alice."

"Frank," moaned Sirius, shaking his head. "You don't get it, do you? If you love Alice that much, break up with Trish! You don't love Trish, do you?"

"N-no."

"Then break up with the girl already!" cried James, rather loudly. The Longbottoms stopped their eating and stared at him.

"I was talking to Sirius about his current girlfriend," he said quickly.

"You were talking to Frank," pointed out Algie.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "No, he was talking to me."

"Then why was he looking at Frank?"

"Because he was too embarrassed to look at me in the eye. You know, kid, there's one thing that you should know about Jamie, and it's that he's a coward when talking about girls. Really."

Algie seemed satisfied at the response and went back to his eggs and toast. 

"I never knew you were such a great liar, Sirius," whispered Frank, as the rest of the family continued eating.

"Yeah, I'm a natural, aren't I? But I was telling the truth for half of it. Prongs _is _a stuttering fool when it comes to girls, especially Lily…"

"Padfoot, look at the time! Reckon we should go now?" said James, glaring at his best friend.

"But we just got here, Prongsies!" whined Sirius, pouting. "Oh, fine. I have to write a letter to Arabella anyway."

"Who's Arabella?" asked Algie curiously.

"My girlfriend," was the brief reply.

"I thought you were going to break up with her."

Sirius gave Frank a "help-me-your-brother's-trying-to-make-me-kill" look. Frank responded at once.

"Now, Al, mind your own business."

"Aww…c'mon, Frank, I want to know your friends' love lives!"

"No, I think that your love life is more interesting," said Sirius hastily. "So what about you, Mr. Starting Fourth Year At Hogwarts? Surely you have a girlfriend! Why, I've had Arabella ever since second year—"

"I'm too young," said Algie, turning crimson. "'Sides, no girl would want me, since they think that I've got a funny name…it's all Mum's fault! She wanted to name me after Dad's brother."

"Algie," reprimanded Mr. Longbottom, glaring at his youngest son threateningly.

"Sorry, Dad. But it's true! If I had a sexy name like Jason, then all the girls would be swarming around me, drooling! After all, I do have good looks."

James, Sirius, and Frank chortled at this.

"That's Wood's name," said James, choking. "Surely you don't want to share the same name with a Quidditch maniac, now, do you?"

"Oh, that reminds me, Prongs," said Sirius, grinning, "you're the new Quidditch captain now."

"You are?" shrieked Algie, his eyes glinting. "Oh, man, I have _got _to try out for Keeper, then, since Wood's gone. Any other spaces available."

"Yeah, Volga's left, too," said Frank, through a mouthful of pancakes. "He's one of the Chasers like James. Other one's Lee Johnson."

"Seeker's George Brach and Beaters are Sirius and Cassia Soon-To-Be-Wood," finished James.

"Cassia's dating Wood," added Sirius, seeing the puzzled look upon the younger boy's face.

"I used to have a major crush on Cassia in our first year," said Frank. "But then it went away, since Wood seemed to take an interest in her, and since I moved on to Alice." He bit his lip.

"Why aren't you writing to Alice lately, Frank?" asked Mrs. Longbottom sternly. "Surely you two haven't had a fall-out, have you?"

"Er—we had an argument, is all."

"Well, make up with her soon, Frank, since I really like Alice and I'd die if I have a different daughter-in-law."

Frank laughed nervously, looking pleadingly at James and Sirius.

"Look, Frankie, my lad," whispered the James, "write to Alice, or something. Tell her how you're feeling."

"I suppose you're right, James," sighed Frank dismally. "Would she care, though?"

"She would," he replied quietly, his eyes clouding with sadness. "But if only Lily would as well for me."

***

"Can you believe Remus?" said Jennifer angrily.

"What is it?" asked Arabella anxiously.

"He hasn't been in contact with me since Lily and Jam—I mean, since the end of the year." She blushed at her blunder and was carefully avoiding Lily's eyes.

Arabella snorted. "I wouldn't let that bother me too much, Jen. The Marauders are afraid of us. Trust me, I know, since, if you've already forgotten, I'm dating a Marauder as well."

"_Afraid _of us?" repeated Violet incredulously, as she lounged comfortably in a tête-à-tête in the Figgs' family room. "Why?"

"Well, Lily," she amended. "Sorry, Lils," she added quickly.

"It's all right," said Lily, her green eyes dull. "I suppose they're mad at me because of J—Potter."

"They're not mad, they're just afraid. They're afraid that you're hatred for James will turn the whole future upside-down, since you keep pushing him away whenever he gets closer."

"I do not!"

Jennifer snorted. "Don't give us that, Lily. You know it yourself. James is head-over-heels for you; practically the whole school knows it. Haven't you noticed that James hasn't gone on a single date since fifth year? Because he **loves** you, Lily! And it hurts him a lot that you're always being cold to him and pushing him away out of love."

"That's very romantic, Jen, but it's definitely not true. Potter…in love with me? Ridiculous!"

"It's not," insisted Violet softly. "I've heard the school gossips, and they all know that James loves you. But I think that you're afraid of him, Lily. You're afraid that if James gets close enough to you, you'll fall in love too."

"So that's it!" exclaimed Arabella, punching her fist into the air. "Lil, Vi's right! You're afraid to love, aren't you? You think that when you're in love, you become vulnerable."

"Well, you do," admitted Lily. "I mean, look at all that stuff that you and Sirius have been through…"

"But that's the beauty of it, Lily! You can't have a relationship without fights, bickers, break-ups, jealousies, and get-back-togethers. It's just, wrong."

"'Tis true," agreed Violet, her dark eyes scrutinizing Lily.

"What about Remus and I?" said Jennifer nervously. "Does that mean we're not normal?"

"Oh, you'll have a fight soon, don't worry," reassured Arabella. "I mean, you're already not speaking to each other. 'Sides, I wouldn't look forward to it too much, since you've seen those fights between Sirius and I and Lily and James."

"Don't worry, we'll never forget them either," added Lily, grinning.

"Oh, stop." Bella turned red.

Just then, there was a sharp tapping noise on the window, and the girls immediately saw that it was an owl. Arabella opened the window and clutched the small twittering owl in her hands, and recognized it as Bludger, Sirius' beloved owl.

__

Dear Bellsies,

I know you probably hate me right now, but I hope that the – er – incident with Lily and James doesn't spoil our relationship. I mean, those two stubborn prats need to sort out some priorities; don't you think so, my dear?

If you want to send me any more letters, then send them to the Potter Mansion. Yep, I'm living with Prongs now, since I couldn't stand my family any longer. 

We're all (including Remus and Peter) hanging out at James' place for a while, and I'd be much obliged if we can meet at your house, as James is having relations over for three weeks. Please, Bella?

All right, I didn't write this letter for nothing…I want to tell you something very important at your house, if we Marauders can come. 

'Till we meet again,

Sirius

"Maybe he's going to ask you to marry him," suggested Jennifer, smiling. 

Arabella snorted. "I don't know about you, but Sirius proposing is a foreign thought to me."

"Marriage would surely ruin his reputation," agreed Lily.

"So are you going to invite them?" asked Violet.

"'Course I am! Or, at least, if Mum and Dad will allow it…"

"Do your parents even know that you have a boyfriend?"

Arabella smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I told them a long time ago, and they think that Sirius and I have maintained a steady relationship for three years without interruption."

Lily, Jennifer, and Violet sniggered, while Arabella blushed furiously.

"That's a contradiction," laughed Violet.

"You aren't going to tell them, are you?" Arabella clearly looked horrified.

"Why would I? 'Tis none of my business."

"Well, go on then," encouraged Jennifer, "write a reply to Sirius!"

"I'm _not_ about to write it in front of youall. I'll be in my room if you need me." She left without another word, ignoring the fit of giggles behind her.

"Why wouldn't she write it in front of us?" wondered Violet aloud.

"Oh, Vi, isn't it obvious?" Lily sighed and giggled softly. "Bella's going to write a nice, long, _mushy _love-letter to her beloved Sirius."

"Why is that funny? I think it's romantic!"

Lily and Jennifer exchanged exasperated looks with each other.

"What?" cried Violet in defense. "It is romantic! But not as romantic as Lily and James."

Jennifer quickly aligned herself to Violet's side, against Lily.

"Yes," she continued, ignoring Lily's protests, "you love James. Don't give me that look! It's true."

"Since when have you been so outgoing, Vi? I remember you in our first three or four years at Hogwarts. You were so quiet and sweet, even though you were still cocky about Potter and I being a couple. But _now_…"

Violet grinned. "Now I'm actually as well-known and popular as you guys, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" demanded Jennifer. "You've always been popular."

"Yeah, right. Remember what Amos Diggory said to me back in our fourth year?"

"Er—not exactly."

"Yeah, well, he said that you three were the most popular girls at Hogwarts, and I was just an ugly loser."

Lily snorted. "Why listen to that jerk? You're pretty, Vi, and if you haven't noticed already, lots of boys at Hogwarts have crushes on you."

"Yet I've never been informed of this."

"I **thought **you knew."

"You thought wrong, then."

"Violet," said Jennifer impatiently, "you're popular, smart, and about the nicest girl there is. Why complain? Besides, with Voldemort gaining power, hell is about to break loose any day now."

"Jen!" exclaimed Lily in horror.  


"What? Oh, I know you're worried about old Voldemort, Lils, but—"

"No, it's not that! It's just that—you're last sentence—"

Jennifer looked confused and racked her brain for a few seconds, before finally realizing what Lily had said. "Oh, that! Gee, c'mon, Lils, like I said, life is too short to be keeping watch of your language."

Lily sniffed indignantly but didn't answer. Violet burst out laughing, and Jennifer joined in after a while as well. 

"Hey guys, what's up?" Arabella had just come in, a roll of parchment clutched in her hands, as she greeted the girls.

"Oh, absolutely _nothing_," snapped Lily.

She raised an eyebrow. "Gosh, no need to snap my head off, Lily. And why are you guys laughing?" She indicated the question to Violet and Jennifer.

"Lily's too worried about watching our language," said Jennifer, grinning.

"Oh, Lils," sighed Arabella.

"What? I don't like having friends with foul mouths, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, where's Merlin?" She was referring to her beloved great-horned owl, which was the pride and joy of her life…at least, as far as animals and pets went, anyway.

"I think he's out delivering a message," answered Violet, yawning.

"WHAT? How could he be? Merlin's my owl."

"I—er—kind of sent Remus a Howler along with him," confessed Jennifer, blushing.

"And why the hell did you do that, Jen? Why not use Ginny, your own owl? Or Hannah and Godric, Lily and Violet's owls?"

"Well," began Jennifer, "you see, I sent Ginny out earlier that day to send sweets to Remus. Hannah was still out hunting, and Vi would never let me use Godric. So Merlin was the only one available."

"Perhaps you should've realized that I wouldn't let you use Merlin as well?" said Arabella sarcastically.

"Why wouldn't you? You said yourself that he's welcome to all of us."

"I—did? Well, I must've been really happy that day. Anyway, why would you sent your boyfriend sweets, and then send him a Howler? Jennifer Dean, you've gone plumb crazy!"

"I have not!" cried Jennifer passionately.

Just then, Merlin had started to tap the window impatiently with his beak, and Arabella swept him up into her arms.

"He's got a message for you, Jen."

Jennifer took the message, scanned it quickly with her eyes, and burst into tears. The other three girls looked at each other in alarm. They picked up the forgotten letter and read it together silently.

__

Dear Jennifer,

Why the hell did you send me a Howler? Look, I'm really sorry if I've been ignoring you lately, but if I do remember clearly, it's you _who's been ignoring me. You guys wouldn't speak to us after the lake incident involving Lily and James! But if you have to yell at me this way even though it's your fault, then I think that our relationship is over. And be lucky I haven't sent you a Howler myself._

—Remus

"Oh, Jen," whispered Arabella, her eyes filling with tears. The three girls hugged their heartbroken friend, shedding tears of sadness, anger, and heartbreak along with her.

"There goes my perfect relationship," whispered Jennifer.

***

"Moony, you are the biggest bloody prat in the whole world. Congratulations," said Sirius sarcastically, as they all hung around in James' room. Frank was there as well.

"Why did you do that, though?" asked Frank, mystified. "I mean, she was your girlfriend!"

"Oh, I don't know," said Remus carelessly. "Must've been that time of the month, I guess. Besides, she sent me a Howler! And before that, she sent me a box of Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice! I don't like an unpredictable girl, thank you."

James rolled his eyes at Frank, Sirius, and Peter. "Do you still love her?"

"Well…" he hesitated. "I don't know."

"I personally thought it was stupid," said Peter. "I mean, you guys were so good together? Why did you just throw it all away because of a Howler?"

With this said, Sirius burst out laughing. The other four boys stared at him, all wondering about his sanity.

"What's wrong with you, Padfoot?" sighed James, shaking his head. "Should I have Dad call St. Mungo's?"

Frank and Remus sniggered, while James and Peter still stared, perplexed, at the maniacal boy who was laughing.

"Sorry," apologized Sirius, coughing. "It's just that, what Wormtail said, it's funny, isn't it? I mean, throwing this relationship to the drain because of a Howler? A scarlet envelope?"

James' mouth slowly curved into a smile. "Doesn't sound like something our sane Moony would do, I'm sure."

"Agreed," piped up Peter.

"You know," said Frank suddenly, "I've decided that girls are way too complicated. Most of our problems nowadays aren't about Voldemort, but about girls. First James is suffering from love that's unrequited. Then I dump Alice for no reason, try to talk to her, and find out that it's completely futile. Now Remus' girlfriend sends him sweets, then a Howler, and now they've ruined their relationship. Women!"

"Amen to that," chorused the Marauders with passion.

"Well, no offense or anything," interrupted Peter, rather red, "but didn't you all have something to do with those occurrences? Lily hates Prongs, because she thinks he's egotistical and obnoxious. Alice hates you, Frank, because you dumped her without much thought. And now, Moony, you're mad at Jennifer because of a Howler. We're pretty complicated ourselves, you know."

"Wormtail's got a point," admitted Remus. "I'm such a derk, dumping Jennifer because of a Howler. I broke her heart."

"Tell her you're sorry," suggested James, as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Are you kidding me?" he said incredulously. "I'm not sorry! _She_'s the one who should be sorry!"

The other four boys groaned loudly, putting their hands in their faces.

"We still have to go to Arabella's house, remember?" reminded James. "Got to go, Frank…duty calls. We're invited to Sirius' girlfriend's house, since he's got to tell her something important." He smirked.

"Oh? What?" Frank peered curiously at a blushing Sirius.

"That I love her," the latter muttered.

The soon-to-be-seventh-year smiled. "That's sweet, Sirius. I remember when I told Alice that I loved her."

"Really? What happened?" asked Sirius eagerly, hoping that it was positive.

"I'll tell you another time," said Frank wistfully. "Right now, I'm guessing that you guys have to go to Arabella's house. See you around, fellows." He Disapparated from James' room.

"I hate that kid," grumbled James. "I wish I got my Apparating license, so I can ditch Floo Powder."

"Oh, well," said Remus cheerfully, "only one year to go."

"I hate it when you're so optimistic, Moony," said Sirius, scowling. "Well, let's go to Bella's, and get my nasty job over with."

"We're still staying there for three weeks," reminded James. "Our house is going to be filled with all the Potters in this world, and that's a lot. So Mum and Dad will barely have space for me. Thank Merlin, too, I don't want to see a lot of my relatives." He shuddered.

The Marauders went to the fireplace, and one by one, released the Floo Powder and cried, "Figg Residence!"

"Sirius!" cried Arabella, as they stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing. She hugged him tightly, and Mrs. Figg's eyes began to water.

"Potter," said Lily curtly.

"Evans," replied James lazily.

Jennifer and Remus avoided each other's eyes, while Violet and Peter exchanged friendly hellos. Sirius had had enough of this.

"Why, hello, Jennifer," he said sweetly. "How are you tonight?"

"I think that you should show the guys where they're staying, Jen," said Arabella hurriedly, catching onto Sirius' little game.

"Me?" She narrowed her eyes. "This is your house, Bella."

Remus almost laughed out loud, but caught himself just in time. Jennifer's biting wit and sharp tongue was one of the things that he loved most about her.

"Yes, but you see…"

"She has to talk to Sirius, remember?" said Lily quickly, catching on also.

Jennifer sighed dismally and led the Marauders upstairs, and into a large, spacious room. "There you go. Enjoy."

"You don't sound like that normal Jennifer that we're friends with," accused Sirius.

"Tough luck, then, Sirius." She left without another word.

"You see, Moony?" said James quietly.

"Yeah," sighed Remus, shaking his head sadly, as he watched his (he cringed at the word) ex-girlfriend leave.

-

"Oh Merlin, you guys will never guess what happened!" squealed Arabella, as she plopped on her bed gleefully.

"What?" shouted Lily and Violet excitedly.

"Sirius told me that he loved me." She sighed dreamily and waited for the responses.

"That's so sweet!" cried Violet, her eyes glazing over. 

"Yes, it is," agreed Lily. "I'm so happy for you, Bella."

"Thanks girls. Hey, where's Jennifer?"

"Er—" The two girls looked at each other.

"Well?"

"We don't know where she is," admitted Violet, after a while of silence.

"WHAT?"

"She—she disappeared. The boys are out searching for her now, as well as your parents. They told us to stay with you, since you'd be alarmed if we all disappeared without a trace."

"Hey, girls," greeted Sirius, hurrying into the room. "Have you seen the guys? They're not here…"

"They're out to search for Jen," replied Arabella shakily, "who's disappeared."

"SHE'S GONE?"

"She's a bit upset over the whole break-up," said Lily softly.

"Well, duh! Remus is upset too. Except he won't apologize until Jen does. Merlin, those two stubborn mules—" 

"Let's go follow the others," interrupted Arabella, glaring at her boyfriend.

The four of them went outside, where the sky was pitch-dark, therefore making their eyesight poor.

"Ouch! Watch it, Evans!"

"Shut up, Black!"

"Vi, you're stepping on my foot!"

"Sirius, you're grabbing my neck, and I would appreciate it if you would _let go._"

"Gee, so sorry."

"Will you all shut up?" hissed Violet, who peered through the dark backyard, squinting. "Honestly, Bella, you could've brought a flashlight."

"A what?"

"One of those Muggle devices that emit light, so that you can see in the dark," replied Lily promptly.

"We don't need those," said Arabella, snorting. "We have wands, remember?"

"Except we can't use them during the holidays."

"Oh yeah."

There were footsteps that echoed through the night, and the human voices mingled with them.

"Arabella? Sirius? Lily? Vi?" James peered at them through luminous light. "We found Jen!"

Jennifer stepped forward, looking pale. "I'm so sorry!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean to run away! I just went outside to think something over, and then Voldemort grabbed me."

"Voldemort?" repeated Lily faintly. 

"Yeah. He told me to hand over James, and when I refused to, he—he—"

"Tortured her with the Cruciatus Curse," whispered Remus, standing next to James and Jennifer.

"Oh, Jenny!" The three girls threw their arms around Jennifer, and hugged her tightly.

"He only wanted you?" asked Lily, regaining posture once more and looking over at James. "He didn't want to kill me, too?"

"Well, he didn't mention it. I don't even know why you'd care, as I've never heard anyone wanting to get killed."

Remus elbowed James sharply on the ribs, releasing an "Ouch!" from the latter.

"Why does Voldemort want you again, James?" said Sirius, as they got back inside the house.

It was Mr. Figg who answered. "I do believe that Voldemort wants you because of a child."

"But then why not want Lily?"

"Well, you see, James is more powerful than Lily, and Voldemort thinks that James would stop him from killing this child, because he's strong enough."

"I am too as strong as Potter!" exclaimed Lily indignantly.

"Of course you are, dear," said Mrs. Figg absently.

Lily sniffed, but didn't answer. After all, why complain? Her friend was safe and out of the clutches of Voldemort…for now.

***

"I HATE YOU, POTTER!" screamed Lily, as she stared at the mirror. Instead of seeing her pale cheeks and green eyes, she was staring at the reflection of a cat.

"Why, Lily, I didn't know you had such great taste in fashion." James sniggered along with Sirius and Peter.

"Prongs," warned Remus.

James' eyes widened and he shrunk back and hid behind Remus. Which wasn't too hard, adding to the fact that James was very small in size.

"Now look what you've done, Prongs," he hissed. "Lily hates you more than ever!"

"Oh, you're so optimistic, Moony. She loves me, remember?"

Remus snorted loudly, but said no more. Instead, he dragged the three other Marauders to their room, and shut the door.

"Prongs, you will now begin deflating," he announced.

James blinked. "Excuse me?"

Sirius spoke up. "Prongsies, Lily hates you, so what Moony is trying to say—"

"—is that you have to act like a gentleman for Lily to like you," finished Peter.

"Did you guys plan this all out?" inquired James in disbelief.

Sirius shrugged. "It was all Moony's idea!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Remus, who rolled his eyes in response.

"But why do I have to 'deflate' or whatever you call it?"

Remus groaned. "No offense, Prongs, but you're an arrogant and bullying egotistical prat."

"Then why are you friends with me?" he said sarcastically.

"Because you're probably one of the only people who accept me as a werewolf." Seeing the look upon James' face was priceless. "Nah, I'm just kidding with you. But that _is _what Lily thinks."

"I don't care!"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "I thought you loved her."

"I—all right, what do you I have to do?"

Remus grinned at Sirius and Peter, and told James all about Operation Matchmaker, and how he was going to try to get Lily to fall for him.

Nearly half an hour later, the four boys were drenched in sweat as the heat of August drifted into the house. But all four of them were smiling widely.

"This has got to be our best plan yet, Moony," said Sirius, sighing happily.

"I know, it must be. A job well done, fellow Marauders. Now, Prongs, have you memorized everything we've told you?"

"Sure. But what about you and Jennifer? When are you two going to make up?"

Remus' good-natured face hardened. "I think that she should apologize first before we even begin rebuilding any of our relationship again."

"And you call Arabella and I stubborn!" hooted Sirius.

"I am _not _stubborn, thank you."

James remained silent the whole time. He was thinking of "Operation Matchmaker" as Remus and Sirius called it. Would it really work? They had told him to stop hexing people in the corridors (Snape was an exception, of course), stop call Lily "Evans", and to not show off (except in Quidditch), which meant that he had to give in his beloved Golden Snitch that he had "snitched" from Madam Hooch last year.

He sighed dismally, but his hazel eyes brightened at the thought of Lily. He loved everything about her: her long, dark red hair flowing down her back; her brilliant green eyes; and her personality…everything. But what hurt him the most was that she would never love anything about him.

Meanwhile, back in the girls' room, Lily was pondering on her own thoughts while her friends were giggling over a Love Potion. Ever since the Marauders came to Arabella's house, she had a strange fluttery feeling in her stomach whenever James passed her. 

__

Bloody hell, Lily thought miserably. _I'm not falling in love with the git, am I?_

__

Of course you are.

Who the hell are you?

__

Remember me? Your conscience?

Oh no, not you again.

__

Of course it's me. And you are falling in love with James Henry Potter, so there's no use denying it. Besides, he loves you; why break his heart?

Because he's an arrogant derk!

__

Surely you don't think so? Haven't you noticed that whenever you say that, you never say it directly to his face like before? 

****

What?

__

I mean, you never say those things about James in front of his face. You just say them in denial to your friends. You've fallen for James, Lily, and there's no way to get out of it.

"I have NOT fallen in love with James Potter!" she declared.

Arabella looked at her in surprise. "Er—Lily? Are you all right?"

"NO!" Lily sniffed dejectedly and plopped herself down on her bed. "Why does everyone keep insisting that I love James Potter?"

"Because you do," said Jennifer, with a small smile. "And James loves you as well. How many times do we have to tell you?"

__

You're going to have to tell me for the rest of my life, thought Lily, as she stared at the pile of holiday homework that was untouched for the past weeks. _Because if I've fallen for James, I know he hasn't fallen for me._

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns all the good stuff. It's not fair, but hey, at least she won't sue me :P

A/N: All right, I am SO, SO sorry that I took forever on the summer, and that it's so sucky as well! (I know it's not a word, but hey, it makes sense…sort of) But I do promise you that the next chapter will be better. PROMISE. Actually, scratch that. This story is falling apart and I know it.

Thank you to all my reviewers of Chapter 20:

Agloechen

Hermione101888 

Ms. X. Lefty9 – Oh, and I think that I have decided to write this chapter until Lily and James' deaths. Or something along that line.

Erynwen – Well, Lily and James are going to get together soon…in seventh year *evil grin* But there will be fluff in their sixth year!

Fabiana (fabigrisanti@yahoo.com) – Yep, James will definitely be spending his sixth year "deflating", so to speak.

spunkygabi

Laura (SnpCracklenpop87@aol.com) – I'm so glad that you love my story out of a lot of other L/J ones! Oh, and don't say that all the fics are bad; some of the L/J fics are awesome in fanfiction.net!

FiLLii – Sorry that I had to make the death of ****** so painful for you again! I know, it was SO, SO sad! *sniff*

Kady Rilla Wholi

NiNaPoP

Wicked Witch of Slytherin


	22. Sixth Year: Part One

Sixth Year – Part One

"I got fifteen O.W.L.s!" gushed Lily, as she hugged Alice at King's Cross. "Can you believe it? FIFTEEN!"

"Lily, calm down," laughed Alice. "It was obvious that you'd get the highest number of O.W.L.s. Be happy that you don't have to take the N.E.W.T.s this year." She made a face.

"And you made Head Girl! That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, but guess who's Head Boy?"

"Who?"

"Longbottom! As if he hasn't already caused me enough pain, the git."

"Are you still going out with Sturges?" asked Lily nervously.

"Well, duh. I really like him. I mean, I know I'll never be able to love him like Frank, but he's all right."

"So will you say 'yes', if you asks you to marry him?"

Alice furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Maybe."

"Oy, Lils!" cried Arabella, waving her arms wildly at her friend. "Alice! C'mon, the train's leaving in five minutes!"

The three girls hurriedly went through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, and hopped onto the scarlet train just in time. They found Jennifer and Violet already in a compartment, and joined them.

"Fifteen O.W.L.s, Lily?" cried Jennifer excitedly. "Oh Merlin, that's fantastic! I got twelve."

"That's great. What about you, Vi?"

"Eleven. I didn't get an O.W.L. for Transfiguration, Divination, or Potions, though."

"We get to choose our classes this year," continued Lily, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'm going to choose Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions. I am so glad that I can ditch Divination."

"I'm not taking Potions or Transfiguration," said Violet dismally. "But I got high grades in Care of Magical Creatures, and that's perfect for working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"That's what Amos is going to do, too," said Arabella disgustedly.

Violet turned white. "Well—er—that doesn't mean I like him, you know," she responded quickly. 

"Of course you don't. Who would?"

"You did," she pointed out.

Arabella scowled. "Yes, well, I _did_. I don't anymore, now, do I?"

"Of course not. You love Sirius. And now you can't say that you only like him; he said himself that he loved you."

A warm flush rose to her cheeks. "Yes, I love Sirius. Jen loves Remus. Lily loves James. It's all good, right?"

Lily choked on the sandwich that she had brought from home. "I love Potter? As if!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Not this again. Anyway, how many O.W.L.s did you get, Bella?"

"Twelve, like you. I'm going to work at the Department of Magical Games and Sports. What about you?"

"Department of Mysteries. I'd love to be an Unspeakable, you know. It sounds fascinating, and you get to learn all sorts of, well, mysteries that are concealed to normal witches and wizards."

"That's very dangerous," warned Alice. "Many an Unspeakable are being killed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I hear that the Dementors from Azkaban are also his followers."

"You're going to be an Auror," Jennifer pointed out. "That's even more dangerous. You're going face-to-face with Voldemort himself, or along those lines, at least."

"Yes, but the best thing about being an Auror," interrupted Lily, "is that you get the pleasure of knowing that you can save many lives by risking your own. It takes a lot of endurance through the training, but it's worth it."

"It's a great sacrifice," said Violet softly. "Are you sure you want to become one, Lily?"

"Of course, Vi. It's been my dream. Too bad I have to go through training with Potter."

Arabella laughed. "Go through training with him? You'll be married to him by the end!"

Lily shot a look at her best friend. "Will not."

"'Course you will. You're destined for each other, and you know it."

"I know it, but I'll do anything to prevent it from happening."

"What about poor Harry then, huh? Will he never live?"

"He may as well have a different Mum, if I'm concerned," she snapped back.

Alice looked taken aback. "Oh, so you want James to marry someone like Deanna?"

"Her? I don't give a damn—"

"Ha!" cried Jennifer triumphantly. "And you call us with bad language!"

Lily glared at her. "Oh, shut up, Jen."

"I won't!"

"Jen…"

"Oh, shut it, both of you," said Arabella wearily.

"May we join you beautiful ladies?" said a familiar voice from behind them. 

The five girls turned around and saw the Marauders and Frank standing right outside of their compartment.

"Sirius!" Arabella flung herself into her boyfriend's arms, and crushed his body onto hers painfully.

"Bellsies—can't breathe—"

"Oh, right." She let go looking flustered and ignored the snickers that followed. "Hi, Frank." She waved to the gangly-looking Head Boy behind Peter.

"Arabella," acknowledged Frank with a nod of his head. "Lily, Jennifer, Violet…Alice." His eyes darkened.

"Well, I'd better get to the prefect carriage," said Alice quickly, standing up and letting her loose golden curls fall onto her shoulders. Her blue eyes scrutinized Frank carefully. "You'd better go, too, Longbottom; you're the Head Boy."

"Right." He nodded and followed her out of the compartment, waving after the eight sixth-years.

"Poor guy," sighed James, shaking his head slightly. "His heart's breaking every moment of this."

"Didn't know you cared, Potter," said Lily coldly.

James turned his hazel eyes onto Lily's green ones with a fixed look that made her shiver. "I'm not as cold-hearted as you think, Evans. I have compassion, and I have care. Frank has been my neighbor and good mentor and friend for nearly my whole life. I care about how he feels; and right now, he's feeling terrible and guilty all at once."

The girls stared at him in awe, while the other three Marauders exchanged approving looks with each other and simply beamed at James, who was still staring at Lily intently.

"Stop staring, Potter," she ordered, after a while.

"Why?"

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're beautiful." James smiled sadly. "Can we share this compartment with you?"

"There are others. Why don't you share one with your fans? They'll be more than willing to make room."

He shook his head again. "I don't care about those girls; they're idiots with empty heads, all of them. Besides, we let you share our compartment last year on the train ride back home, remember?"

Lily did indeed remember, and she silently cursed James for remembering as well. However, it wasn't only his sharp memory that she was in a quandary about; it was his attitude itself. He no longer had that egotistical and condescending personality, which usually made people around him feel more inferior. No, he had a brisk and genial air about him now. He walked confidently, yes, but didn't have that cold stare when passing by people who dressed shabbily; in fact, he had something in his eyes whenever he passed the less fortunate ones—pity. Lily found it exceptionally hard to adapt to this immediate change.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly.

"Doing what?" said James, looking thoroughly confused. "I didn't hex Snape or anyone coming here, if that's what you mean."

"No, no." She shook her head firmly. "Why aren't you acting all snooty and patronizing?"

James blinked. He knew that he had this question coming. But what really puzzled him was the realization that he _had _acted all bratty throughout his last five years at Hogwarts. And that people expected it of him as well. A guilty feeling spread through him as he saw Lily, the love of his life, thinking how he had suddenly turned nice. But hadn't he always been nice? The Marauders liked him—and many of the girls at Hogwarts had crushes on him. But he realized that the latter only liked him because of his looks. He sighed dismally.

"What's wrong?" Lily pushed.

"I just…never knew that I've acted like such a prat for the last five years. I mean, you've told me that I've been a prat for hundreds of times, but those comments just bounced off me. And now I guess I'm more sensitive."

She snorted. "You, sensitive? I highly doubt it." But Lily regretted saying it when she saw the apparent hurt in James' eyes.

"Well," said Sirius, breaking up the "moment", "can we share this compartment with you or what?"

"Yes," said Lily, her eyes still glued to James' sad eyes.

"_Thank _you. My legs were about to fall off."

Arabella punched his arm. "Don't be so tactless," she hissed. "Can't you see that Lily and James are having a moment? It hasn't happened since first year!" 

Sirius rolled his eyes. "They were snapping at each other again. Some moment."

Remus gave Arabella a "don't even bother" look, inclining his head toward Sirius. 

"I don't like you," said Lily flatly.

"I know you don't," replied James airily. "Why should you? I've been an arrogant and bullying prat for the last five years. I'm surprised that Remus and Peter can still handle Sirius and I." He winked at his best friend.

She narrowed her eyes. For a minute there, she had thought that James had changed. But he had that same egotistical aura.

"You haven't changed a bit," she spat.

He merely shrugged and smiled again. "You can't expect me to be studious and staid all the time, do you? We Marauders need to have fun in life…and I intend to have it while my life lasts. After all, I only have five years left of my life."

"As do I," said Lily in a hard voice. "But I prefer spending my life on grades."

He stared at her in disbelief. "That's boring!"

"Oh? And I suppose you find it great entertainment to be torturing Snivel—Snape."

James grinned roguishly. "Nah, torturing Snape doesn't mean much to me now. Why bother the git? He'd be wasting my time anyway."

"Since when have you been so philosophical?"

"Will you guys shut up?" growled Sirius, rubbing his forehead. "I never knew you were so boring, Prongs. We should be talking about those hot girls from Hufflepuff."

James rolled his eyes. "First of all, Padfoot, you have a girlfriend. Second of all, there are girls here, and I'm sure they wouldn't take too kindly, hearing us talk about girls. Third of all, I've no interest in _those _girls that you call 'hot'. You know my heart belongs to one beautiful Gryffindor, and her only."

Remus, though keeping a calm composure on the outside, was grinning like mad on the inside. James was doing a wonderful job not being so arrogant, that the former actually wondered if James had really changed, instead of just keeping an affected personality to gain Lily's love.

"Has my best friend gone **mad**?" whispered Sirius, poking Remus. 

"He's changed," said Remus softly, "for the better. His love for Lily made him more humble."

"But—but—" spluttered Sirius. "Prongs isn't _supposed_ to be humble! The Potters are one of the most prominent and wealthiest pureblood families in the Wizarding world. He has everything he wants. Why is he humble?"

"Because Lily's unrequited feelings for him is making him realize that even the wealthiest people cannot get what they want all the time. He wants Lily to love him, but Lily's playing hard-to-get. That's what's making him be—well—like a normal guy, instead of stuck-up like you, Padfoot."

Sirius scowled. "Hey! I'm not stuck-up!"

Jennifer snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not! And you belong to Remus."

She raised a blond eyebrow. "Is that so? I'm a piece of property, like a wand? That's nice to hear."

Remus couldn't restrain himself any longer; he burst out laughing before all eight of them. 

Peter looked positively alarmed. "Am I missing something?"

"Moony's gone mad," said James in wonder.

"I have not!" exclaimed Remus, still chuckling.

"Then why are you laughing?" asked Violet skeptically.

"Can't a wizard laugh once in a while?"

"If he has a reason, yes," said Jennifer coolly.

Remus promptly shut up. "I'm laughing because of you, Jen."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah? So you're laughing because I'm hurting. Thanks, Remus."

"No, no! It's not like that—"

"Than what is it like?"

"I love you," he said quietly, that they could barely hear.

The Marauders' jaws dropped open, while the girls' eyes shined with tears.

"Wait to go, Moony," muttered Sirius. "Announcing your undying love in broad daylight. Such a romantic."

James worked very hard at keeping a straight face after that comment.

"You don't," said Jennifer, her blue eyes filled with tears.

Remus looked highly alarmed. "W-What? Of course I do! How can you say that, Jenny?"

She flinched at his pet name for her. "Don't call me that," she said in a steely tone. "Why did you break up with me? So you can go for another prettier and smarter girl in Ravenclaw."

"How can you even imply—"

"How can I?" she nearly screamed. "_How can I_? You broke my heart, Remus, with your stupid letter. I'm sorry that I sent you a Howler; I really am. But is a stupid envelope really worth a break-up?"

Remus hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Jenny. I just got carried away, I guess. But I guess we're a perfect couple now, since we've had a fight of our own." He smiled slightly.

Jennifer returned the smile and went over to hug her ex-boyfriend (or, rather, boyfriend). There was a chorus of "Aww's" and sniffles between the other six friends who watched the scene with great interest.

"Moony's lucky," said James to himself. "He has the girl of his dreams. So does Sirius. Only I don't."  


"Who is the 'girl of your dreams', Potter?" asked Lily curiously.

"I don't think you'd care if you knew," he replied. "You'd laugh."

"No, really."

"I won't tell. It's a secret between us Marauders and Frank, though your friends could probably guess within a nanosecond."

Lily leaned over to Violet and whispered, "Who does Potter like?"

Violet looked at her with interest. "Oh, you mean love?"

She rolled her eyes. "Potter can't love."

"Yes, he can."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who is it?" demanded Lily impatiently.

Violet gave a toothy smile. "You."

"Excuse me?"

"James loves _you_, Lily. Has ever since our fifth year, when you told him to stop hexing Snape in the corridor, and when you accidentally told him that you 'liked' him."

Lily's mouth dropped open in surprise, as her green eyes widened. Whatever Violet was about to say, she was definitely not expecting this.

__

Potter likes me, she thought dully. _Out of all the girls he could've fallen in love with, he chose me. Bookworm Lily Evans, who studies too much for her own good. He just _had _to choose the girl who hated him. _

"Lily?" Violet peered at her. "Hello?"

"Wha—What?" Lily jerked out of her daze, startled. "Where's the Snitch?"

"Excuse me?" She laughed. "Were you thinking of Jamie dearest again?"

"I'd never!"

The compartment slid open, revealing a handsome boy, whom they vaguely recognized as the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, and in the same year as themselves. He smiled at the girls, but his warm gray eyes were fixed steadily on Violet with a look of admiration.

"Hello, Violet," he said, his eyes still fixed onto hers. "Would you like to—maybe—go out with me sometime?"

Violet's eyes widened. "You mean…like a date?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Er—yeah. Will you?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "You're Jackson Bradley, right? Sorry, but I'm not too good with names."

Jackson grinned widely. "Yeah. You will? Really?"

Violet shrugged again. "Sure."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" He looked as if he were going to burst out singing, but decided against it after seeing the Marauders in the same compartment. He didn't want to tempt blackmail from the pranksters.

"James," he said, with a slight incline of his head.

"Jack," greeted James cordially. It was obvious that they were good friends.

Lily smiled at her friend as Jackson left with a huge grin plastered on his face. "See, Vi? What did I tell you? Lots of boys like you! Jackson's had a crush on you since fifth year."

"Well," she said dreamily, "I guess you're not the only ignorant one."

"What's that supposed to be?" asked Lily with a frown.

"Nothing." Violet gave James an encouraging nod of her head as the train continued to move steadily.

***

Lily, to her horror, found herself staring at James Potter for the past ten minutes in the library. She scolded herself mentally for not paying any attention to her Transfiguration essay, and continued to read the extremely tedious passage about human transfiguration and how to transfigure your head into that of an animal.

"I'm glad you find me extremely charming, Evans," said James with amusement, as green eyes met his hazel ones.

She flushed. "Well, I am extremely sorry, Potter, to say that I don't find you attractive at the least."

James turned crimson. "Are you having trouble?" He changed the subject abruptly.

"I am, as a matter of fact. Are you here to taunt me of my poor Transfiguration skills?"

"Nah. I was just wondering if you need help. I mean, I'm fair at Transfiguration, since I have a fortunate wand."

"Fair? You get top grades in it in our year, and you've never hesitated to tell everyone that."

"Well, it's not too nice, is it? Bragging about one's accomplishments and making people feel bad."

Lily frowned. "But that's what you're all about, Potter! You've been showing off all your life."

He was starting to lose his temper. "Oh, so that's what you think of me, eh? Someone who lives in this world just to show off his achievements and accomplishments? Well, let me tell you something, Evans. I happen to care about my family, friends, and grades as well. Sure, I don't look as if I care about my grades, but I do. I guess I just don't study too much because all this stuff comes naturally to me, as my parents and teachers say. I care about my mum and dad, and I care about Sirius, Remus, and Peter. They're like my brothers, especially Sirius, who's living with us from now on. And I care about y—" He stopped, his eyes widening and his cheeks flushed.

"Me?" said Lily gently.

James shook his head vigorously. "It doesn't matter."

"Violet said that you love me. Is it true?"

"What's it to you? You hate me."

Those words tore at Lily's heart more than she had imagined. She was hurt that James thought that she hated him…but she did, didn't she? But recently, James' unusual behavior went out to Lily; maybe the arrogant derk really did change for the better.

"I'm sorry."

"You're what?" repeated James in disbelief.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? What for?"

"For hating you," she replied softly.

His angry expression disappeared. "You don't have to be sorry for hating me. I mean, I never apologized for hating you, did I?"

"No, but you've fallen in love with me."

"Don't bring it up, Lily…please."

"Why not?"

"Look, it's hurting me enough that you don't love me, or even like me, back…"

This broke Lily's heart even more, for unknown reasons. Why was she feeling this way? She hated James Potter…or so she thought. But it hurt her to hear James suffering through all this, thinking that she didn't care at all.

"Look, James, I love you," she began, "as a friend," she added, as she saw a glimmer of hope in his beautiful hazel eyes.

James smiled. "It's all right, Lily, I understand. After all, I've been a great prat; who wouldn't hate me?"

"You can have any girl you want, Potter. Why me?"

He opened his mouth, prepared to give a whole hour speech, but Lily sensed that he was going to talk a lot.

"Look, don't answer," she said hastily. "I know you're going to tell me stuff about my eyes and smile. I'll think of your offer if you can prove that you love me."

"Huh? What offer?"

"You always ask me out, silly." She winked.

His jaw dropped open and he looked as if he was going to faint. 

"Prongs?" said Sirius urgently, looking at his friend in alarm. 

"What?"

"You look like you're going to faint, mate. Need me to help escort you to the Hospital Wing?"

"I'm **fine**," he insisted.

"You're not fine, Potter," snapped Lily.

"Oh?" He sneered. "And how do you know, Ms. Evans?"

"Because I've known you for the past five years, and I know when you're not fine."

"She's right, Prongs," said Sirius.

"I'm fine," he said, yet again. "Leave me alone!" He jumped up and ran out of the library, to Gryffindor Tower, no doubt.

Sirius looked critically at Lily. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" she exclaimed. "I just told him that I'd consider his offer if he'd stop being a prat."

"What offer?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "When he asked me to go out with him numerous times last year."

Sirius grinned widely. "Oh, you are falling for my best friend, Evans. Now, don't deny it; it's so obvious. You are head-over-heels for James Henry Potter!" He said this a bit too loudly, and everyone in the library turned to look at him, including Madam Pince, the strict librarian.

"So," said Juan Demise, raising an eyebrow, "don't think I'm good enough, eh, Evans? Going for the purebloods, are you?"

"Oh, shut up, Juan," snapped Lily impatiently. "I'm not falling for Potter! Sirius is just being—well—Sirius. And when have you ever asked me out?"

"Last year," he replied brusquely.

"Oh, _that_. Well, it was because you couldn't get my best friend, so you decided to ask me, so that you can get Arabella."

Juan blushed, cringing at Sirius' cold gaze. "You're lying."

"I, a Gryffindor Prefect, lie? I though you knew me better, Demise."

"Go out with my best friend."

"What?" Lily was taken aback. "Who's your best friend?"

"Frank Longbottom. He's just broken up with his girlfriend of two years, Alice, and he's feeling awful."

"He's with Trish Vance," said Lily pointedly.

"So? Alice is with Sturges Diggle and Frank's about to dump Vance anyway. Since Alice is going to marry Diggle, you may as well be with Frank. He's a nice kid, he really is!"

"You're mad, Demise," commented Sirius in awe.

"Thank you, Black." He smirked. "'Sides, Evans, Frank fancies you."

"He does not! He loves Alice, and I think that they should get together. If you were his real best friend, you'd think so too."

This struck a chord in Juan, for his face turned pale white. "I've been his best friend for seven years."

"Potter's known him since birth, and has been a better friend to Frank than you." 

Sirius cracked a smile. _Lily is sticking up for Prongs…that's definitely a first. Wait until I tell _him!

"What are you grinning at, Black?" said Juan sharply. "Find this discourse funny, do you?"

"Leave him alone!" shrieked Lily. "He didn't do a thing to you!"

"Oh, I thought you'd never cheat on your best friend, Evans. Now you're going out with Black?"

"I am _not_," she said coldly. "Sirius is my friend and nothing else."

"You are pathetic, Evans," spat Juan. "No wonder you've never gotten a boyfriend before. If it wasn't for Potter in love with you, you'd be even more down in the social status of Hogwarts."

"Out of my way, Demise." Lily pushed past him and ran to Gryffindor Tower, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Thestrals," she said to the Fat Lady, who allowed her entrance into the common room.

"Evans?" said James gently, as he saw Lily come through the portrait hole. "What's wrong?"

"Demise…" she began, but didn't finish; she started sobbing loudly.

"It's all right, Evans." James wrapped his arm around her and let her sob into his chest. "What did Juan do?"

"Being a prat again." Lily looked up and gave him a watery smile.

James chuckled slightly. "Figures. Don't let the git get to you."

"He said that I was pathetic, and that was the reason why I've never had a boyfriend in all my years at Hogwarts." She conveniently left out the part where Juan mentioned James.

"Don't mind him. He's just an idiot, is all. You're perfect, and I think that every guy is mad for not liking you."

She smiled. "He's right, though. I haven't had a boyfriend since…well, I've never even had a boyfriend before, period. Maybe it's time that I do loosen up and get one."

James' eyes widened. If he couldn't get Lily to be his girlfriend, then no other guy should have her, either. But before he could say another word, there was a blinding flash of light. The whole common room illuminated and three figures stumbled out of nowhere. The two sixth years stared in surprise and confusion as the light disappeared, revealing two boys and a girl.

"We're from the future," said one of the boys. "Dumbledore sent us along, 'cause—" He looked at the other boy for support.

"Because Dumbledore wants us to see the past, or something like that," said the girl quickly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Er—hello, then. I'm James Potter." He extended a hand.

"Lily Evans." Lily stuck out a hand as well.

One of the boys' eyes looked shocked. On closer inspection, James realized that he had the same startling green eyes as Lily.

"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed rather loudly.

Lily gasped and clutched James' arm rather tightly, though the latter secretly enjoyed it.

The redhead boy, whom they recognized to be Ron Weasley, looked over at the couple with a critical eye. "You two are supposed to hate each other," he said bluntly.

"Ron!" cried the bushy brown-haired girl sharply. "Excuse him; he's not much to manners. I'm Hermione Granger."

"We know," said Lily, nodding, "and the red-haired boy is Ron Weasley, correct?"

"How do you know all this?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Dumbledore told us," was said with brevity.

"How does Dumbledore know?" queried Ron, squinting. "You know, I don't think you're Harry's parents."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh? Then who is? Arabella Figg and Sirius Black?"

Lily snorted, while the other three stared in shock, and glanced at Harry nervously.

"Oh, sorry," said James, noticing the look on Harry's face. "Sirius died, didn't he?"

Harry nodded mutely. "He was like—like the father I never knew. He was both my mother and father, and my mentor. He was always there for me and never kept me waiting. And he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in an attack in the Department of Mysteries." 

Hermione gasped and put her hand on his mouth. "Harry!" she hissed.

"My best friend was killed by his damn cousin?" said James incredulously. "Well, then, we'll just have to _Avada Kedavra_ Bellatrix the next time we see her."

"Potter!" exclaimed Lily. "It's bad enough that we know this piece information! But to actually change the future—?"

"All right, sorry. Anyway, I'm James Potter, and this is Lily Evans, my future wife. Need to know anything else?"

"Was it true, what Snape said before?" asked Harry quietly.

"_Snivellus_? That git? I don't know, what did he say?"

"You've always hexed him at Hogwarts," continued Harry, unfazed. "Was it true that Mum hated you?"

James glanced at Lily and then back at his future son. "Well—er—she still hates me at this moment, but—"

"I don't hate you," Lily interrupted, blushing.

"You don't?"

"No. I told you I loved you as a friend, didn't I?"

"See, Harry," said Ron, looking delighted. "I told you your mum and dad never hated each other. You're just worrying about nothing. See, your dad, he's a nice guy. Snape was just being a slimy git as usual."

"You cursed Snape near the lake in fifth year for no reason," accused Harry, turning to James. "And Lily intervened, and she was yelling at you like mad. She tried to help Snape, but he called her a you-know-what."

James turned red. "I'm not proud of it, mind you, Harry. I'm sorry if that was the only memory that you've had of me. I'm sure I'll get better as the years pass. I'm not doing too bad myself right now."

Suddenly, the portrait hole swung open, revealing Sirius and Remus, grinning. 

"Moony, Padfoot," greeted James.

"Hey, Prongs, you'll never guess what happened! Bella, Jen, and Vi all got a detention because of _us_! Oh, it was brilliant."

Lily sniffed indignantly. "Only you'd think that, Sirius."

"Oh, hello," said Remus politely, seeing the future trio standing beside his friends. "Are you new? I've never seen you in Gryffindor before."

"They're the future people, Moony," said Sirius, staring at Harry in awe. "You look just like your dad, Harry."

"Sirius!" Harry flung himself onto Sirius, and the rest of them snickered at Sirius' stricken face.

"Er—why are you so happy? Oh, I'm probably dead, right?"

Harry let go of Sirius and smiled at Remus indulgently. "Hello, Remus."

"Hi, Harry."

"Where's Wormtail?" spat Ron.

"He's in detention with the girls," replied Sirius, grinning once more at the memory.

"Good."

"Ron!" chided Hermione, yet again.

"You guys would make a great couple," said James, before he could help himself. "Fight all the time, just like Lily and I."

Harry laughed at the expressions on Ron and Hermione's faces. "That's what I keep telling him."

"Oh, yeah?" retorted Ron. "What about you and Ginny, huh?"

The Boy-Who-Lived turned crimson. "What about Ginny and I?" he said carefully.

"Oh, pur_-lease_, Harry! I see the way you look at my baby sister."

"Who's Ginny?" wondered Remus.

"Oh, she's my little sister," informed Ron.

"What does she look like?"

"Bright red hair, brown eyes."

Sirius cackled. "I guess the Potter men all go for the redheads. James' mum has auburn hair."

James and Lily glared at him. "Shut up, Sirius!"

***

"You're a very cool kid, Harry," said James reverently. "Youngest House player in a century? Unbelievable."

Harry blushed. "Thanks, James—er—Dad. What do you want me to call you?"

"James would be fine. Or Prongs. You know about the whole—er—thing, right?"

"Yeah. It actually saved Sirius from rotting in…"

"Harry!" said Hermione, glaring at the messy-haired boy.

"Sorry, Hermione," apologized Harry nervously.

Lily smiled. "How many O.W.L.s did you get?"

"I got fourteen," said Harry, "and so did Ron. Hermione got fifteen, the highest number."

"Oh, yeah," said James suddenly, "you're the future Evans."

"The future what?" said Hermione, confused.

"You're just like Evans: studious, top grades, perfectionist, stuff like that."

"You're a close second, Potter," teased Lily, grinning. "Top Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts in our year."

"You're top Charms."

"You two don't hate each other," said Ron suddenly. He had been silent the whole time.

Lily and James looked at each other and shrugged. "We used to."

"Why?"

"Hey, we were first years," said James defensively.

"We still hated each other in our fourth year, too," admitted Lily.

"But _why_?"

"I don't know! 'Cause we were stupid."

"We have to go soon," said Hermione sadly. "Dumbledore only wants us to stay for a few hours. Time-traveling is dangerous."

"Don't go!" said James, looking alarmed.

"We have to. I'm sorry."

"B-but you can stay here forever!"

"Voldemort's in full power now," said Harry softly. "We have to help defeat him. Or, at least I have to, in order to fulfill the prophecy."

"He's gaining power now as well," said Lily, her eyes darkening. "I thought you defeated Voldemort."

"Well, he was never really defeated when I was a baby; he just lost his body. And now that he got it back, the dark times of twenty years ago are back."

"I'm sorry," said James, "for ever being a prat. I'm really sorry, Harry. I gave you the wrong impression of how a father really should be."

Lily's heart went out to him when he said this. She knew, finally, that James Potter had really changed, but she was still uncertain that she liked him, or if he liked her. Many people nowadays told Lily that James loved her, but she refused to believe it more than just a simple teenage crush. How little did she know that she was extremely mistaken, but it would be a year from now before she would even consider her feelings for James as love.

"It's all right," said Harry. "I'm sorry that I thought you were an arrogant person. I didn't think. But it was wrong of you to bully Snape like that."

"Yeah. It was. But I just can't help it sometimes. I mean, he's a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake…"

"He turns to our side," interrupted Hermione. "He's a double agent, spying for us."

"Really?" James looked amazed. "Never knew Snivel—Snape had the guts to do that. Wow. He should be a Gryffindor."

Lily giggled. "I never thought I'd see the day when you said that, Potter."

"We have to go now," said Ron, looking downcast.

Hermione smiled, taking a small square from her robes and held it to Harry and Ron. The three of them grabbed it, and the same bright light bounced against the room, and disappeared along with the trio.

"I'll miss them," said Lily, sighing.

"Yeah. It was great to see Harry. He looks just like me, but he's got your eyes."

"Hey, guys." Arabella, Jennifer, Violet, and Peter came into the common room, looking rather disgruntled.

"Hey. How was detention?"

"Boring and futile. What else? We did it with Wickham, so it wasn't so bad. But imagine if it was Hurst, though; it would've been hell."

"What did you guys do?" asked Violet curiously.

"Oh, nothing much. Just talked."

"Without any pranks or insults?" said Jennifer, looking surprised.

"Yeah."

"Whoa! That's way too much for me to handle."

"Oh, shut it, Bella."

"Where's Pad—Sirius and Remus?" growled Peter. "I need to get revenge on them!"

"Don't worry Peter," said James airily. "I'll help you."

Lily looked disgusted. "I thought your pranking days were over, Potter."

James tutted. "My, my, Evans, I thought you would've at least known that my prank days will never be over." With a swish of his wand, Lily turned into a toad.

"Potter!" screeched Jennifer. "Turn her back! NOW!"

"Don't be a spoil-sport, Jennifer. After all, the color suits her eyes, don't you think?"

Lily croaked loudly, her green eyes burning into James'. The latter could tell that she was angry, even if she wasn't human.

James laughed, and turned her back into a person again. When Lily was back to normal, she was about to through a diatribe at James, but seeing his head thrown back in laughter and mirth, she decided against it. After all, it would be a long time before they would be smiling again.

So instead, being the good sport she was, she laughed with him. This surprised their friends, who were expecting a full-blown tirade from Lily as soon as she turned back to normal. 

"Well," commented Remus, "this is different. Lily Evans not yelling at James Potter for a prank."

"D'you know what it means?" said Violet, her eyes shining.

"What?"

"Things are looking up for both of them, just like we always wanted it to be."

Lily and James looked at each other again, fully aware of their friends' mutterings. 

"Some things never change," said Lily to herself, smiling.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything

A/N: I am very sorry for taking longer than usual on this chapter. I also apologize for the bad turnout of it, too. I was hoping that it would be cute and fluffy, but instead, it was deep and angsty. If you hate it, at least spare me the flames, okay? And please don't kill me if the next chapter takes forever, because I'm preparing for my last SAT tests, so I'm busier than ever. 

Thanks to my reviewers of Chapter 21:

Agloechen

Erynwen – I hope you liked James' so-called "deflating"! He's changed a lot, hasn't he? *wink*

NiNaPoP

K a w a i i - c h a n1 

Wicked Witch of Slytherin

LynXkittY – Hey, you're not the only one who's impatient for Lily and James to get together! But hey, what can I say? They're stubborn :P

Kady Rilla Wholi – I know that I made Peter a bit out of character in the last chapter, but I guess I was in a good mood, LOL. And yes, I know that Trelawney was after the Marauder time, but I started this story in January, and that was before OotP came out. But I'm glad I made this story a love/hate one, or else it would be an AU.

Emily 

Thank you to all my other reviewers of other chapters! 


	23. Sixth Year: Part Two

Sixth Year – Part Two

"Potter, for the eight-thousandth time, I will _not _go out with you!" screamed Lily furiously.

The Marauders and girls were heading down to the Great Hall together, and James decided that it was a good time to ask Lily out once more, since he had been "deflating" for the past few months. However, he was highly mistaken, and very surprised, when Lily's answer was a "no".

James sighed miserably. "Oh, fine. _Don't _go out with me then. _Don't _marry me. _Don't _fulfill the prophecy." With that, he walked into the Great Hall, ignoring the many girls who were currently drooling all over him, as usual.

"I think you were a little harsh, Lily," said Arabella, watching James with pity. "You could have at least had a more pleasant tone."

"Why don't you want to go out with James?" asked Jennifer curiously, as she snuggled closer to Remus. "He's changed, hasn't he?"

"Not enough. He still shows off, especially in Quidditch…"

Sirius snorted. "How many times do we have to tell you? He's not showing off in Quidditch, he's just trying to make new moves so that we can fool the other teams!"

"James loves you, Lily," said Remus gently, glaring disapprovingly at Sirius' tone of voice. "Give him a chance. Please?"

"Why? Why are you all so tenacious about me accepting James as a boyfriend?"

"We want both of our friends to be happy," said Violet, who was silent the whole time. "You love James, too, Lily; you just have to look deep inside you and see for yourself."

She narrowed her eyes. "Right."

The seven of them entered the Great Hall, and found James eating his breakfast with an unusual enthusiasm. He ate nearly four pieces of toast at once, gobbled a whole plateful of sausages, and drained down his pumpkin juice.

"Bye!" he said in an out-of-key voice. "Must get ready for Potions; you know how Hurst gets if we're late. See you!"

"Poor Prongsies," said Sirius in a serious* tone.

"He'll be all right," said Remus confidently, as he piled his plate with scrambled eggs and bacon.

"How do you know?" was the skeptical reply.

"Because Lily will have to say 'yes' sooner or later, and then everyone will live happily ever after."

"You make everything sound so simple, Moony."

Remus smiled. "I'm not serious, Sirius."

"I know you're not. I am."

He rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

"Oh, yes. _This _again."

Remus groaned loudly.

Meanwhile, the girls were chattering cheerfully at the other end of the Gryffindor table. Arabella was discussing her plans for working at the Ministry later on to Jennifer and Violet, but Lily was lost in her own thoughts.

__

Maybe I shouldn't _have yelled at Potter…after all, he looked a bit upset, _she thought, remembering James' defeated look.

"Hey, Lily?"

"What?" She snapped out of her reverie, looking alarmed. "Who died?"

"No one." Arabella looked at her best friend strangely. "I was asking you where you were going to stay after graduation."

"Probably with my parents, until I find a flat of my own." She shrugged. "What about you?"

"I was thinking that maybe we can share a flat together…that is, until James proposes." She grinned wickedly.

Lily spat out the pumpkin juice that she was currently draining down. "_What?_"

"You're going to marry him sometime," said Jennifer matter-of-factly, as she reached out for a muffin. 

"I don't have to marry him. I live my life as I please."

"Sure. But why wouldn't you marry him? You love him, remember?"

Violet suppressed a laugh when she saw Lily's expression. "Don't tease Lils, girls. It isn't nice. Lily will make the right decision when the time comes."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Lily triumphantly. "Listen to Violet. She's the voice of reason and peace."

"How are things going between you and Jack, Vi?" asked Arabella curiously.

"Wonderful." Violet flushed. "Jack's really nice, and he's so sweet! He's planning to take me to a Christmas luncheon at Hogsmeade this weekend, since it's close to the holidays."

"What a romantic," sighed Arabella, smiling. "Wish Sirius was like that."

"Oh, but you still love him," teased Lily lightly.

"Yes, I do. Do you love Jackson, Violet?"

"Well…it's a bit soon to tell, isn't it?" She looked uncertain. "I mean, we've only been seeing each other for four months."

"He's cute," commented Jennifer, giggling.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I thought you loved Remus."

"Oh, that I do. But still, you can't deny the fact that Jackson Bradley is a very good-looking boy."

Arabella and Violet laughed.

"My dear Bella," said Sirius, coming up to them, "may I escort you to the dungeons for our pitiful Potions class?"

"You may." She giggled again and took the arm that Sirius offered.

"What about you, Ms. Jennifer Dean?" said Remus, grinning. Jennifer bounced out of her seat and held his hand, following after Arabella and Sirius.

"Guess it's only you and me, Vi," said Lily, shaking her head after the two couples.

"Oh! Er—I have to meet Jackson for a moment." Violet looked embarrassed.

"Oh, go ahead."

Lily watched as Violet went over to the Ravenclaw table, where Jackson was looking at her with admiration and love. He kissed her lightly, and they walked out of the Hall as well. 

She sighed. Everyone was paired off in her year, except for Lily. It wasn't as though she couldn't get a boyfriend; nearly half the males were in love with her. No, it was because she couldn't find the right boy that would love her and never leave her. Lily sighed once more, and slowly followed Jackson and Violet.

When she entered the dungeons, she found that all her friends were seated already. But what was worse, they were all coupled together: Sirius and Arabella, Jennifer and Remus, and Peter and Violet (the latter didn't like the former, but she felt bad for him). Lily gave a look of revulsion and thrust her bag onto the table where James was sitting alone. She didn't want to take a chance with any of the Slytherins.

"'Lo, Evans," greeted James slowly, as his hazel eyes widened in surprise. "Er—I thought you hated me. You could find another seat if you want."

Lily forced a smile. "I don't want to sit next to a Slytherin, and you're loads better than them."

"Oh, thanks, I feel so loved," he said sarcastically. She laughed.

"Well, well, if it isn't Evans and Potter," sneered Professor Hurst, sweeping into the classroom. 

James narrowed his eyes. _Since when did the git care about us?_

"Sir," said Lily, glaring.

"I thought you two hated each other," he continued with malice. "I guess not, then. Like Dumbledore says, opposites attract…"

Lily and James' mouths widened in shock and disbelief, while the Slytherins snickered loudly. The Gryffindors, especially their friends, shot them looks of sympathy.

"Sir," repeated Lily, her voice shaking.

Hurst ignored her and continued talking. "Today we will make an Aging Potion, and you will be working with the person sitting next to you." He grinned evilly at Lily and James. 

Both sixteen-year-olds would not look at each other.

An hour later, everyone completed and experimented at the potion, and were admiring the older versions of each other. Lily had even longer dark red hair and her almond-shaped green eyes were even more dazzling than ever. James was much taller than he was before, his hair stuck in all directions, but his hazel eyes had a look of understanding, expected from someone who have experienced a lot.

Arabella was currently laughing at Sirius. "Oh, Sirius, look at you!" she giggled. "You're hair is **long**!"

"Hey, I still look sexy, don't I?" he retorted, while Remus and Jennifer chuckled.

"Whoa, Moony, you look like the full moon's close," said Sirius, his eyes widening.

"Padfoot!" cried James, irritated. 

"Oops, my mistake. Sorry, Moons."

"Moons?" questioned Remus, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it's cool, right?"

"Er—"

"Say yes."

"Er—"

"Never mind." Sirius huffed indignantly.

"You look pretty," said James to Lily.

"Thanks." She flushed. "You look good yourself."

He grinned. "I haven't changed a bit and you know it. Just got taller, that's all."

"Yes, but still…" She shrugged.

"Aww…" said Sirius mockingly.

"Black, I suggest you sit down before someone gets hurt," said Hurst curtly. "I will be giving you the counter—yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Can we stay like this for the rest of the day?" he asked innocently.

Hurst thinned his lips. "I'm afraid not, Potter," he said, looking oddly like a livid McGonagall. "Now, does anyone else have any stupid questions they would like to ask me?"

James turned red, while the Slytherins chuckled.

"Prat," muttered the former.

"Did you say something, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, no, _sir_." James smirked.

Hurst narrowed his eyes. "Don't you use that tone with me, Potter. Just like your parents; reckless fools, they are."

"Don't you insult my parents," he said in a deadly calm voice that even startled Hurst.

Lily's green eyes were watching James throughout the whole discourse between him and Hurst. His clear hazel eyes were full of determination and loathing as he gazed into the Potion master's cold gray eyes. 

"That's no way to speak to a professor, Potter," spat Hurst. 

"So sorry, _sir_. But 'tis true. My parents aren't fools; you just don't like them because you fancied my mum at Hogwarts!"

There—he had said it. The secret that he had kept from even Sirius throughout his life. Professor Hurst had fallen in love with Sarah Johnson at school, but when the latter rejected him for Daniel Potter, Hurst became bitter with the world. James had been quite disgusted when his mother revealed her past to him, for he hated Hurst almost as much as he hated Voldemort, the Dark Arts, and Snape.

"You—" gasped Hurst. "Your mother told you this!"

"Indeed." He mimicked a "Hurst-smile", as the Marauders called it.

Just then, the bell rang, and Hurst was still eyeing James with hatred. "Class dismissed," he muttered.

Everyone nearly trampled each other, coming out of the dungeons, for they didn't want to be present when Hurst would deal with James. However, the Marauders, with the exception of Peter _(A/N: the bloody coward…how I hate him!)_ lingered behind, waiting for James.

"Listen, Potter," said Hurst lividly. "I'll have no more of this insolence from you. You're just as arrogant and strutting as your father is."

"Don't insult my dad!"

"I remember Potter Senior back at Hogwarts," he continued, ignoring James. "He was the mightiest player in the castle. He went for the empty-headed girls, stole all of their hearts, and never returned them." He smiled wryly. "He was also quite egotistical. Any pejorative made at him bounced off like a ball. But then he actually met his match when your mother caught his eye.

"She didn't like your father, much, Potter, your mother. Had the same opinion of him as Evans does for you. But then somehow the git managed to capture her heart as well. They got married straight out of Hogwarts, and now, twenty years later, I'm stuck with another Potter, who's just like his father."

James opened his mouth, but said nothing. Instead, he glared at Hurst. "Look, my dad might've been arrogant at Hogwarts, but he's not now. He loves Mum and I, and he'd do anything to protect us."

Hurst sneered. "Is that so, Potter? Well, I'll be darned if Daniel Potter's changed."

The sixteen-year-old ignored his Potions Master, got his books, and left the dungeons with the Marauders trailing behind him.

"Can you believe that Hurst?" he muttered viciously. "Insulting my father right in front of me!"

"Look, mate," said Sirius impatiently, "don't pay any attention to the git. He's not worth your time. But doesn't Snape hate Harry?"

"Yeah." James sighed heavily. "It's all my fault. Think of it: if I didn't start hexing Snape last year, Harry wouldn't have too take too much of Snivelly's wrath."

"Prongs, Padfoot is right," said Remus, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. That's exactly what Hurst wants you to do, don't you see?"

"I s'pose."

"How are things going with you and Lily?" Sirius tried not to look too curious.

"All right, I guess. She doesn't hate me, so that's a start. But I'll never give up on her. She's too good to lose."

"That's the attitude," said Remus, grinning. "You know, if you start going like that more, Lily will fall for you in no time."

"Yeah, but I don't want to force her. I just want her to _really _love me out of her own accord, you know?"

Sirius shook his head. "Gee, Prongs, never knew you'd turn your head for a girl."

"Nah." Remus gave Sirius a helpless look. "You're saying it all wrong, Padfoot. What he means is, he never knew that a girl could turn your head like this."

James smiled. "Lily isn't just an ordinary girl, you know."

"Enlighten us, then."

"Moony!" cried Sirius, glaring at the brown-haired boy. "Do you know how mushy this is going to be? We'll be standing here all night!"

James chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't lecture you, Paddy."

"Oh, Paddy, is it? Oh, I got our new nicknames! Moons, Wormy, Paddy, and Prongsies!"

Remus rolled his eyes and laughed along with the other two boys.

"Where were you guys?" said Jennifer, raising an eyebrow, as they entered Gryffindor Tower. "We thought you were hexing Snape again."

"Hurst," was the only reply.

Arabella sighed. "What did he say, James?"

"Git. Insulted my dad, he did! Can you believe the nerve of him? Why, I ought to—"

"Don't do anything rash," warned Lily.

"I won't," reassured James, smiling slightly now. "It's just, can you believe the nerve of Hurst? He's just angry that Mum never liked him, and he was jealous of Dad at school."

"Sounds like the relationship between you and Snape."

Sirius grinned. "Though you have to admit, Prongsies, that if we didn't pick on Snivelly half the time at Hogwarts, we'd have never gone this far."

"Yeah, but now Snivellus hates Harry. Everything has a bad ending to it, I say."

"Never knew you were so thoughtful, Potter," commented Lily.

"I never was," returned James, "until you."

***

"Evans? What's wrong?" James peered at Lily's tear-stained face closely. 

"I had a dream," she whispered. "And…you were captured by Death Eaters and almost _killed_! Oh, James, it was awful!"

They were both sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It was approximately around four o'clock in the morning, and both sixteen-year-olds were feeling particularly tired and cross. 

"I had a dream as well," said James quietly. "You and Harry were attacked by Death Eaters at some place called Godric's Hollow."

"Godric's Hollow?" repeated Lily. "That's where Godric Gryffindor used to live. It was named after him after he died."

"It's a good hiding spot as well," he said.

"Hiding spot?"

"You know, if you're in danger and need to go into hiding. It's saved millions of lives during Grindelwald's rise in power."

"And I thought you hated History of Magic," said Lily dryly.

"Oh, I do," affirmed James. "But I find that Godric's Hollow is a very interesting place, even though it holds bad memories of the past."

"That was more sentimental than I give credit to you for, Potter."

James grinned wickedly. "I can be a hopeless romantic if I want, Evans."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"You'd better be." Then he frowned. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm **fine**, James," sighed Lily impatiently.

"Oh, you must be, then, since you called me by my birth name."

"Then you shall have to return the favor, Potter. After all, I do have a give name besides 'Evans'."

"But I like 'Evans'!" insisted James. "It's cool!"

Lily merely rolled her eyes in response."

"James? Lily?" 

They both turned around and saw Frank Longbottom at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Frank?" asked James curiously.

"Couldn't sleep," he replied thickly. "Been thinking too much…"

"About Alice?" said Lily softly.

He sighed. "Yes. I dumped Trish. She didn't take it too well, mind you, but it had to be done. Alice claims that she loves Sturges, though. May as well wish her good luck."

"What?" said James incredulously. "You mean, you're not going to tell her that you're sorry you dumped her, and that you love her?"

Frank shook his head. "James, it's not that simple. She's with Sturges, and I don't want her to break his heart. Sturges has been one of my mates since first year, besides Juan"—Lily winced at the name—"and he deserves the best. And the best is Alice."

"No, Frank. You have to tell Alice, or else you'll never live through your life, knowing that you never took the chance and asked her for a second chance. If Alice marries Diggle, she won't be happy either. You two are destined for each other, mate. If you don't take action and act like a true Gryffindor, you will really regret it later on."

Lily and Frank both stared at him. James had never talked so rhetorically before, much less even talked sense at all. But here he was, in broad daylight, lecturing one of the most intelligent students at Hogwarts and the Head Boy.

"Thanks, James," said Frank, his mouth curving into a smile. "I'm glad you've told me that. You're right. If I don't tell Alice, who knows what'll happen. And I know that she's not happy with Sturges, either."

"That's it," agreed James encouragingly, "tell her. After all, why not? You have to take chances in life, since it's not so simple like black and white."

"Wow, Potter," breathed Lily. "I never knew you could talk like that."

He shrugged. "Hey, I have my moments. Pretty good, huh? Maybe I should even open my own advice column on relationships."

Frank smiled. "You know, James, that isn't such a bad idea. Maybe you should." He yawned. "Well, I'll be off to get some shut-eye, and face Alice in the morning. 'Night, all." He disappeared to the seventh-year boys' dormitory.

"I'm glad someone's happy," said James, his eyes sad.

"What's wrong?" said Lily, looking concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied hastily. "Really."

"No, Potter, something's wrong, and I need to know what."

"Fine, do you really want to know?" He took a deep breath. "You know I love you, Lily, and I really want to be with you for the rest of my life. But why won't you go out with me? It's been bothering me for ages, and I really need to know why. I mean, I've changed, haven't I? I'm not a bullying git anymore, so to speak. So what's wrong?"

"Potter, I don't want you to change because of _me_!" cried Lily. "I want you to change for you, not me. I want you to realize that all you've down for the past years were wrong, and to amend those mistakes."

"I do realize it, Evans. Just—oh, forget about it." He shook his head. "May as well go ask Deanna to Hogsmeade, since you won't go."

"Hogsmeade?" said Lily, nonplused.

"I was planning to ask you, but since you seem to hate me so much, I'll be asking another girl, then. It's only a day away from Hogwarts, after all."

"I'll go with you," she blurted.

James looked faintly surprised. "Will you? That's wonderful! Er—it's on Valentine's Day, so…" He smiled sheepishly.

"You planned this all, didn't you?" Lily returned the smile rather reluctantly.

"Not at all. I didn't expect for the world that you'd say yes. But I'm glad you did, because I do have something planned for my date." He winked secretively.

Then both fell silent, and were that way for quite a while, just enjoying each other's presence in the common room. That was, until a great banging from the sixth-year boys' dormitory startled the two of them.

"Sirius," informed James at Lily's surprised expression. "It's nothing, really. It happens nearly every morning, I think."

He was quite right, and a few minutes later, Sirius came down to the common room and grinned at the sight of Lily and James.

"Ooh, busy last night, were you, Prongs?" He winked suggestively.

James blushed. "Oh, shut it, Padfoot. We were just talking, since we had another nightmare."

"S-ure, whatever you say, Prongs." He chuckled and went through the portrait hole and disappeared out of sight.

"Hi, Prongs," said Remus, appearing from the stairs. "I couldn't find you this morning. Were you down here all night?"

"For about three hours, yes."

"All right. Did Sirius already go down to the Great Hall? I swear, that boy's eager for anything related to food." He shook his head and went out as well.

"At least Moony didn't question me," said James hopefully.

"Remus is the pragmatist of your group. Obviously he understands that we wouldn't do anything—er—inappropriate." Lily blushed.

James grinned. "Inappropriate, eh? Care to elaborate?"

"Pervert," was the only response.

"Don't you know it!"

"I thought you changed, Potter," said Lily disapprovingly.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going down to breakfast. You coming?"

"I'll wait for Bella, Jen, and Vi. You go ahead."

James strolled out of the portrait hole and accidentally ran into someone along the way to the Great Hall.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered, and looked up to see Alice. "Oh, hey, Al."

"James, what are you doing here so early? I thought you and your friends slept late on Saturdays."

"Oh, Lily and I were up the whole night. Where's Sturges?"

Alice stiffened. "He's still asleep, I think."

"I talked to Frank last night."

"Oh, did you? Why was he up?"

"Er—couldn't sleep. Poor bloke had a lot on his mind."

She frowned. "Why do you care? Not even his own friends do."

"Look, Alice, Frank's been my mate since we were little kids; he's like an older brother and mentor to me."

"I guess Operation Matchmaker's working." Alice smiled.

"Huh?"

"You know, that stupid thing that Sirius came up with."

"Oh, yeah! That…well, I've given up on it."

"Have you?"

"Yeah. I've realized that nagging Evans won't do much for me, so I've decided to let her make up her own mind."

"That's quite sweet, Jamie. Now, tell me the real reason why you're keeping me up."

"Why do you think there's a reason?" James tried and failed to make a face as innocent as possible.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Oh, pur_-lease_, James! You never miss out on a meal. Now, is this about Frank, or is it not?"

"Why would it be about Frank?"

"Oh, brother! James, just _tell _me already!"

"All right, all right! Yes, it is about Frank. Why won't you have him?"

She snorted. "He's with his dear Trish, remember?"

"He broke up with her."

Alice stopped walking, and stared at James. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm dead serious."

"But—but—_why_?"

It was James' turn to be exasperated. "Well, isn't it obvious? He loves you, Al! Not Trish, not any other girl…you. He's just afraid to tell you because he doesn't want to make Sturges heartbroken."

"You—Frank told you to do this, didn't he?"

"No, I just figured that lending him a hand would help." James smiled. "Well, let's go already, Alice. You're holding up everyone else, and I'm starving."

"Hey, Alice, go out with my mate Frank!" cried Juan through the impatiently waiting crowd. 

Alice sighed. "Oh, shut it, Demise! Don't you ever leave people alone?"

"No way!"

James grinned at the impatient and weary Head Girl in front of him. "Don't worry about him, Al; he's a git."

"Potter, what are you doing here still?" asked Lily, pushing through the crowd. "Oh, good morning, Alice."

"'Morning, Lils," greeted the Head Girl warmly.

"C'mon already!" exclaimed James, looking annoyed. "I'm starving!" He bounced into the Great Hall, much to everyone's relief.

"Men," the two girls muttered, shaking their heads and following him."

"Don't you know it!" he called back, feigning hurt. "Men make the world go 'round!"

"You know, I can hardly see any change in him," commented Alice.

"True, but you know he has," returned Lily, smiling fondly at the messy-haired boy.

***

"Oh, Potter, this is beautiful!" said Lily in amazement, as James took her to a nearby table decorated with lavish flowers and colors.

"Yeah…I had it reserved special, too," said James, grinning. "You like?"

"I love it!" she exclaimed, inhaling the sweet scent of the pink sprayed roses.

James sighed contentedly and settled down in the chair opposite Lily's. He tousled his messy-black hair, mostly out of habit, and settled to staring fondly at Lily, hoping that she was having similar thoughts of him as he of her. Which, surprisingly, she was.

For at that moment, Lily was thinking about how sweet James was being to her. Perhaps she was softening up too much to him, since even the toughest girls cannot resist a romantic. But Lily knew, deep down, that James had changed for the better, and was falling in love with him, as much as she denied it.

"Evans?" He cocked his head to one side and peered at her through his round glasses.

"Yes, Potter?"

James' face flamed red. "Er—I hope you enjoy today…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed.

Lily smiled, despite the situation. "Of course I will."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Evans and Potter." 

The two turned around and saw Bellatrix Black clinging onto Rodolphus Lestrange's arm, sneering.

James groaned. "Oh, what do you want, Bella?"

"I just thought I'd never see the day when you and the Mudblood are getting along." She sniggered along with Lestrange.

"Why are you with Lestrange?" snapped Lily. "You don't care for him; you just want him because he's a 'respectable, pureblooded family'."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Evans. It's so obvious, isn't it? Purebloods don't marry because they _love _each other; that's so _common. _Mother and Father just want us to keep up our pureblood lines. Unlike Andromeda, who went gallivanting off right after Hogwarts with that _Mudblood_…"

"Probably Bella's lousy cousin told you all those lies," added Lestrange.

"Sirius," she spat, as if it were a swear word.

"Sirius is my best friend," said James, his voice rising, "and I think it's right sad for him to be related to a bunch of Death Eater-wannabes! Even his little brother's turned on him! Regulus, that little—"

"Now, now, Potter, I don't think you want to finish that sentence," said Bellatrix sweetly. "After all, I am telling the truth. My sister preferred to marry that Tonks, and now she has a child that's a Metamorphmagus!"

"So?" James frowned at her. "What's so bad about a Metamorphmagus? They're really rare."

"I'll tell you what. Andromeda named her _Nymphadora_, that's what! Can you believe my ex-sister? Marrying a Mudblood and destroying one of the purest bloodlines is a crime itself, but giving a child a name so hideous?"

"That sister of yours has always been a bad egg, Bella," said Lestrange, shaking his head and putting his arm around her waist. "Don't bother explaining to Potty and the Mudblood."

Bellatrix giggled and hugged her boyfriend in front of Lily and James, who made disgusted faces while they were having their "moment" together. Soon the Slytherin couple left the table, still clinging onto each other. 

"That is so wrong," commented Lily in a hushed voice. "Slytherins 'fraternizing' with each other. What'll happen next?"

James snickered. "Soon Sirius will pronounce his undying love for Voldemort, that's what."

"You know, that's not too impossible," said Lily thoughtfully. "When you know Sirius, you'll believe anything."

"C'mon, Evans! I've known him for half my life, and the guy would never do anything quite like **that**. Not even for a joke, I reckon. Treacle tart?"

"Thank you, Potter." Lily accepted the dessert graciously, along with a glass of butterbeer.

"Would you like some tea, Ms. Evans?" continued James politely. At least he had to change his tone of voice, since Lily did deserve to have a good day without insults. 

"What kind of tea?"

"Raspberry or Green?"

"Green, please."

"Jolly good." James handed Lily a steaming teacup of strong tea.

"Why are you acting this way?" Lily raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Hey, it's Valentine's Day, and boys tend to get nicer. It is, after all, a girl holiday."

"Girls get boys presents, too," she retorted.

"How do you know? You don't have a boyfriend," he pointed out.

"That may be true, but Bella, Jen, and Vi bought presents for their boyfriends."

James smiled. "You know, you should get a boyfriend. I mean, one of the smartest and most beautiful girls at Hogwarts doesn't have a girlfriend. Boys are dying to go out with you."

"Only you'd think that," said Lily, returning the smile. "Boys don't pay much attention to me anymore. They're going for girls like Deanna now. 'Sides, I don't need a man. I can stand on my own two feet, thank you. I can't find a good enough boy anyway…Bella, Jen, and Vi all get the good luck."

__

What about me? thought James silently. _Aren't I good enough for you _now?

"What about you, Potter?"

"What?" His head shot up in alarm.

"You asked me 'what about me'? Well, what about you, Potter?"

"Er—" James looked around frantically for an excuse, but nothing came to his head. Where was Sirius when you needed him?

"Well?" Lily glared at him with a look of annoyance.

"Er—Happy Valentine's Day and I love you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Potter, but I won't be falling for that."

"I thought you were talking about me, so I said 'what about me'?" he suggested hopefully.

"Yuck!" cried Lily, jumping out of her seat. 

James stared at her. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

"No…look!" She jabbed her finger toward another side of Madam Puddifoot's.

He blinked. A couple was sitting there, snogging like there was no tomorrow. The boy had dark hair that fell elegantly over his forehead, while the girl had light brown curls that tumbled over her shoulders. They looked oddly familiar—

"Sirius and Arabella?" he breathed.

Lily nodded, frowning. "And that's not all! Look!" She pointed to a couple that could only been Frank and Alice.

"Whoa! I thought Al was still going out with Diggle."

"She is! But I guess Sturges ditched her or something."

James grinned and beamed at Frank, who was holding Alice's hand and visibly shaking. The Head Boy saw James looking, and waved back, smiling. 

"Finally, those two are together. I thought I'd die, seeing Frank so forlorn."

"They make a very cute couple," mused Lily.

"Yes," he agreed readily.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you saying something cocky? Like 'we do too', or something like that."

"Why would I do that?" questioned James, nonplussed.

She blinked. "Because—that's what you always do whenever you take girls out to dates!"

James laughed. "Oh, Evans, I haven't asked out a girl or been on a date for a long time, since fourth year, or something. I've only been out with Deanna and Melissa Andrews, and I've gone out with you once in third year."

"Yeah, but that wasn't anything serious," objected Lily.

"You're right, it wasn't. 'Sides, those girls aren't much anyway. I only want one girl and I'm betting that you know who it is."

"Do you always flatter girls? Because it's definitely _not _working on me."

"Nope." He chuckled. "I told you, Deanna was all over _me_, not vice versa, and Melissa was just a fling. Maybe girls flock all over me, and maybe I used to want to impress them, but I don't now, if you haven't noticed already."

"You still stare at Melissa, even though she's been going out with Jason Mackenzie since fifth year."

James' hazel eyes twinkled. "Why do you care? Jealous?"

"Me, jealous? In your dreams, Potter." But Lily was blushing furiously now.

"Hey, Lily, James," said Violet, waving, as she plopped into a chair next to their table along with Jackson. The latter didn't say anything, for he was looking at Lily and James with an amused expression on his face.

"Hello, Violet," returned Lily, smiling. "Hi, Jackson."

"'Lo, Lily, Potter." Jackson grinned at James roguishly. "You two dating or something?"

"No," responded James quickly. "Why'd you think that, Jack?"

"Obvious, isn't it? Only couples come in here, especially on Valentine's Day."

"Jack!" hissed Violet angrily.

"Oh, so is that it?" said Lily, her voice rising. "You brought me here so we can go out and snog, Potter? Well, then I'm out of here!" She stood up and brushed her robes.

"Wait!" he cried, with a sidelong glance at Jackson. "It's not like that…"

"I was just joshing, Lily, nothing to be angry about," said Jackson hurriedly. "Really, it was just a joke."

"No, no, I'm glad you warned me, Jackson. Thank you. As for you, Potter"—she glared at him malevolently—"you can kiss those dreams of us going out and marrying good-bye." She promptly got out of the small tea shop, the door closing with a small snap.

"Oh, wonderful," said James, groaning in his hands.

"I'm sorry, James!" said Jackson in horror, his eyes widening. "Really, if there's anything I can do, just name it. I'll allow you to win the game next week. Anything!"

"Nah, it's all right, Jack," he said, smiling. "It's my fault, really. I guess Evans really never liked me anyway."

"Oh, James, we're sorry for spoiling your date with Lily." Violet blushed apologetically. "I know how much you wanted her to like you…"

"Look, it's all right," he snapped, his temper rising. Why couldn't they understand?

"It isn't," said Violet, starting to get angry. "Don't be so stubborn, damn it!"

Jackson stared at his girlfriend in awe. Violet was usually sweet and quiet, but now…

"You love Lily, so you have to _show _her that you do! Lofty 'I love you's' won't help, James; actions speak louder than words. So show her that you care for her and would do anything to protect her. Show it."

"I guess you're right, Vi," sighed James. "But how can I? She'll never speak to me again."

"Go talk to her," said Violet knowingly. "She's by the lake, I know it."

James said good-bye to the couple, and hurried up to Hogwarts. Violet was right. Lily was strolling by the lake in her light pink sweater and Muggle jeans, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Lily?" he called tentatively.

She fixed her almond-shaped eyes onto his face and sighed. "Do I have to forgive you again?"

He gave her one of his cocky grins. "Don't have to."

"But I guess I will." She sighed again and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what? It isn't your fault, it's mine."

"No, James, it's my fault and I'm really sorry. I guess I just got carried away. I really do like you, but I don't love you, Potter. I need more time. But when I thought you thought of me as just another fling—"

"You were scared," he interrupted. "Oh, Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't make it clear enough for you. I love you, and you should know that. And I'm going to show you that I do."

"Really?" Lily looked faintly surprised.

"Of course."

She smiled and hugged him tightly. James was taken aback, but melted into the hug.

"I do like you, Potter," she said quietly. "I just need more time. I do promise, though, that I won't date any other boys. If that's what's worrying you."

Now it was James' turn to be surprised. How did she know him so well? But then, his father always told him that enemies knew you better than your friends. His mouth slowly turned upward into a shy smile—something that Lily didn't think he had in him. Shyness and James Potter just didn't mix. However, it was right there in front of her. James was blushing and stammering just like any other boy would, when he confessed his love to a girl. Lily grinned widely. He had changed.

Passersby could see a boy with messy black hair beaming at a redhead girl, and hazel eyes locking in with green. They would see the boy's deep love for the girl, and the girl's uncertain feelings for the boy. But they would see friendship in both eyes…perhaps the most important thing of all. However, they could also see the girl's hidden love for the boy, and how she was scared of love, and how much pain it would cause. 

"I'll always wait for you, Lily," said James gently. "You can have as much time as you need. You can even date other boys, until you realize your feelings for me."

Lily's green eyes sparkled with tears. Every girl loved a romantic, and she knew that this time, he wasn't lying. James was sincere this time. "Thank you, James," she replied, smiling.

And that was how they passed the rest of the Hogsmeade day: just smiling at each other.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: OMG, I am SO sorry that it took me AGES to get this done! But I've been really busy lately (yeah, I know, but life isn't easy, right?), and I was in New Hampshire on vacation for a week as well. 

All right, I'm too lazy to thank every single reviewer this time, since there were more than thirty, and time is money. So I'll just thank all of you! Oh, yeah, and there was a reviewer (sorry, but I forgot your name!) that asked for some hints of the next chapter. Well…I don't have anything planned on the top of my head, but I can tell you that Lily goes out with another boy in the next chapter, but James isn't jealous (isn't he sweet?) But that's all I can tell you, because I nearly always improvise my stories as I go along.

Mucho gracias to all my reviewers! :D 


	24. Sixth Year: Part Three

Sixth Year – Part Three

Lily mentally scolded herself as she walked back to Gryffindor Tower slowly. She had just accepted Mark Goldstein on a date! She felt awful, and the thought of James made her stomach drop even more. How could she have been so _stupid _as to accept?

"Hey, Lily!" said Violet cheerfully, walking next to her.

"Oh, hey, Vi," said Lily distractedly. "Where we you?"

  
"Oh, I was—er—" She blushed.

"Don't tell me: off with Jackson again?"

"Yes." Violet was extremely red.

"Aww…were you two snogging?"

"_Lily! _Now, tell me what's wrong."

Lily sighed. "I—I'm going out with Mark Goldstein."

__

"What?"

"I'm going out with—"

"Yes, yes, I heard you!" exclaimed Violet impatiently. "But why? What about James?"

"Violet, please." Lily squirmed uncomfortably. "I don't know what came over me! I just accepted him when he asked me out!"

"Lily, you're going out with Mark Goldstein, the Ravenclaw prefect who just broke up with the Head Girl of last year. What were you _thinking_?"

"I wasn't thinking," said Lily desperately. "Vi, you have to help me!"

"What's going on here?" asked Sirius, coming out of the portrait hole with the rest of the Marauders. "I thought I heard a racket outside…"

"She's going out with Mark Goldstein!" shrieked Violet accusingly. "I was just telling her how perfectly ridiculous—"

"I know that, Violet!" snapped Lily.

However, Sirius was gaping soundlessly at the latter. "You…you're going out with that git?"

"He's not that bad," she said weakly.

"But—" He shot a glance at his best friend, who looked away. 

"Sirius," said Remus sternly, "let her be. You aren't Lily's mother, and neither are you, Violet."

Everyone suddenly turned his or her attention to James, who was silent throughout the argument. Sirius crossed his arms and glared at Lily and Remus, while Violet stared at the floor.

"What are you looking at me for?" said James irritably.

"Aren't you going to say something?" said Sirius nastily. "About this whole misunderstanding?"

"It isn't—" began Remus, but James cut him off.

"Why should I? Moony's right, Padfoot: mind your own business. Lily can date whoever she wants to."

Lily gave a sigh of great relief. "Thank you, Potter." She said the password to the Fat Lady and went to her dormitory, leaving everyone else speechless outside.

Arabella smiled at her friend as she collapsed onto her bed. "Hey, Lily."

"Bella, please don't get mad at me. I have to tell you something."

She raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't say you snogged Sirius, I really wouldn't care."

"I'm going out with Mark Goldstein."

Like she said, Arabella wasn't angry; in fact, she looked quite calm and serene. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"You know?"

"Lily, I'm your best friend. I know that Mark isn't the best for you, but I guess you had to go out with another boy in order to realize your true feelings for James."

"I feel so horrible for hurting him like that. He tried so hard…"

Arabella smiled widely, and Lily frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, nothing." She put on an innocent face. "I'm not looking at you."

Lily merely rolled her eyes in response. However, the thought of being Mark Goldstein's girlfriend made her cringe inwardly. 

__

Good job, Evans, she thought to herself. _What in Merlin's beard were you thinking? Mark Goldstein's an idiot, remember? _

She went down the staircase, and collapsed into a comfortable armchair in the common room, where James and Sirius were playing chess by the fire.

"Hello, Evans," the former greeted cheerfully. The latter merely grunted in response.

"Hello, Potter, Sirius," called Lily.

"Why aren't you with your boyfriend, Evans?" spat Sirius bitterly. "I'm sure he misses you very much by now. Who knows, you can always sneak up in the Ravenclaw common room and up to his dormitory any time soon…"

"Padfoot!" hissed James, glaring. 

"I'm trying to back you up here, Prongs, there's no need to get upset," he snapped back.

"All right, why are you angry, Sirius?" demanded Lily, tears prickling her eyes.

"I know you fancy James, but no, you just had to go with Goldstein."

"Sirius, I told you! It was an _accident_!"

"Huh! Yeah, right, it is."

Lily looked around at James for support, but he looked away, turning red and concentrating on his chess pieces. She shot daggers at him, but he wouldn't look at her at all after a while. A surge of anger ran through her, and she decided to pay Mark a visit.

She went out the portrait hole, hoping to have some sign of where the Ravenclaw common room was. After about ten minutes of wandering around the whole castle, Lily had no such luck. For one moment, she wished that she had the Marauders' skill of able to find any place at Hogwarts, as she slouched to the library in defeat. To her delight, Mark was there along with his friends, Ulysses Boot and Samuel Corner.

"Lily!" He cried in delight when he saw her. "How's my sugar?"

Lily cringed inwardly again, but forced a smile, amid the sniggers of his friends.

"Don't embarrass the girl, Mark," chided Ulysses.

Mark grinned, but his smile faded all of a sudden. "That Potter wasn't bothering you, was he, Lilikins? 'Cause it's a well-known fact that James Potter has a strong fancy for you."

Lily smiled. "He's been very supportive of me, thank you, Mark."

Sam shifted slightly in his seat and smiled shyly. "James wouldn't do such a thing, Mark. He's got dignity, that boy."

Mark narrowed his eyes. "Since when have you been on the side of the Gryffindors. You not included, of course, Lily."

"James is my friend," said Sam defensively. "He's a good guy, and he knows when to back off."

"So how are you, Lily?" He plainly ignored his friend's comments.

"I'm fine, Mark."

"Look, Lily, I want to give you the password to our common room, but Frieda would never let me. You know how that girl is."

"Quite true." The conversation was beginning to become extremely tedious. Even though Mark was decent looking and was pretty nice, he was very dull. But then, nearly all Ravenclaws were.

"Why are you all at the library anyway?" she asked, trying to start another topic of conversation again. 

"Studying, of course," said Mark, looking as though it were obvious.

"For what, exactly?"

"Well, for our N.E.W.T.s, of course!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. _Merlin, this boy is crazed! _I_'m not even studying for the N.E.W.T.s yet, and I _always _study earlier for everything! We still have more than a year, for Merlin's sake!_

"That's—er—nice."

"Isn't it?" He bounced happily.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Never mind him, Lily; he's just hyper because Marie—ouch!" He rubbed his arm on where Mark had just punched him. "Oh! Er—I mean Manie, Mark's sister, just owled him, saying that she's coming home. She's an Auror in Egypt."

Lily looked suspiciously at Mark, who nodded emphatically. She had a strange feeling that the three boys were lying, but pushed it no further.

"I still think Potter's pining for you, Lily," said Mark impatiently. "You don't like him, do you?"

"Oh, of course not!" she exclaimed a bit too quickly. Well, she wasn't entirely lying; she didn't like James too much.

Ulysses raised an eyebrow. "You sure, Lily? 'Cause James likes you a lot. He took you to Hogsmeade and everything."

"He did _what_?" said Mark angrily. "You didn't…kiss him, did you?" He looked anxious.

"No!" Lily shook her head. "Never."

"Good." Mark visibly relaxed, but Sam gave her a knowing smile.

"Hey, Lily, could I talk to you for a minute?" asked the latter.

Mark narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Boot, if I catch you snogging my girlfriend—"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up, Mark. I won't do anything to Lily; I have a girlfriend myself, after all."

Lily followed Sam to the back of the library, and asked curiously, "Yes?"

"Look, Lily, it's a mistake to be dating Mark."

She blinked. "What?"

"I mean, I know I'm Mark's best friend, but I know that you don't like him. Do you deny it?"

Lily looked away. "No," she replied quietly. "I don't know why I'm going out with Mark. I just wasn't thinking properly when he asked."

"You like James Potter."

Her eyes widened. "What—?"

Sam snorted. "Oh, come off it, Evans! I've seen the way James looks at you, and I've seen the way you look at him. Don't deny it."

"I suppose," she sighed. "But I don't want to like Potter! He's an arrogant git, a bullying prat, and…"

"All right, I get your point. But he's changed, see? Don't you see it? He loves you well enough to change himself. That's something guys like us don't do very often."

"So what's your point?" said Lily, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't think you should go out with Mark anymore." He took a deep breath.

"But he just asked me out today."

"So? You two aren't meant for each other. Just listen to me, Evans: James Potter is head-over-heels for you, and you two are really meant to be. Do me a favor and go out with him the next time he asks you."

__

"What?"

"I'm not joking," he said desperately.

"Why do you care, Samuel? Ravenclaws aren't too fond of Gryffindors, since they think that they're too bold and such."

He grimaced. "Just do it and stop asking so many questions. Look, you want to know? I'm in debt to James Potter. Once, in our second year, I wandered off to the Forbidden Forest, on account of a dare from my friends. Centaurs attacked me, and James saved me. I had no idea what he was doing there himself, but he saved my life, Lily! When we were only twelve, too. He's a good guy, and I want to do a favor for him. So please go out with him and make him happy."

Lily stood in stunned silence. Here she was, standing at the far corner of the library, and a Ravenclaw, who happened to be one of her boyfriend's best friends, telling her to ditch Mark and go with James. Her mind was jumbled with all sorts of different emotions, as she stared at Sam, gaping.

"I don't like him," she finally said.

Sam sighed. "Hogwash! Of course you do! You're just in denial, that's all. You'll come around sooner or later, I suppose. See you around, Lily." He waved and walked out of the library, leaving Lily by herself, pondering his words.

__

"He's a good guy, so please make him happy."

Lily blinked and shook her head wearily. She had gotten herself in a huge mess, and she had no idea how to get herself out of it.

***

"Our sixth year is almost over," said James sadly, as he stared at the homework in front of him. "Can you believe it, Padfoot? We'll be seventh years soon!"

"What?" snapped Sirius, shaking out of his trance. "What did you say, Prongs?"

"I said—" began James, but Remus cut him off.

"Oh, forget it, Padfoot. What're you thinking about anyway?"

Sirius faced his three best friends, looking grave. "I'm thinking of proposing to Arabella."

James choked. "We're only sixteen, some of us seventeen! That's a bit too early for marriage, Padfoot."

"So? I'll propose next year, then."

Remus sighed, which caused the other three to stare at him.

"What's wrong, Moony?"

"I don't think I can be with Jennifer anymore."

"WHAT?" cried Sirius.

"I'm a werewolf," he continued, unfazed. "It wouldn't be safe for her."

"Oh, you know damn well that—" 

"I know she loves me," he interrupted. "But do you know how miserable she'll be? Dealing with my transformations for once a month in our entire lives? She won't like it, even if she does love me! I want her to be happy, and with a husband who won't cause her pain and loneliness."

"Moony, you're not making any sense at all," said James, shaking his head. "Jennifer doesn't _care_…"

"Sure, she thinks she won't, but she will!"

"Remus," squeaked Peter, "why would she care?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," said Sirius aggressively. He wasn't too pleased with Remus' concept. 

"Padfoot, you don't understand girls too well. They want a husband who can spend time with them. They want carefree lives! They want lives where they wouldn't have to worry about their husband because of his werewolf transformations."

"You're wrong, Moony! Jennifer isn't like regular girls, and neither are her friends—I understand Bella!"

"Padfoot, you remember that prediction Trelawney made once in our second year. Or was it our third? Anyway, she said that I would find love, but lose it, to protect the girl I loved. That means Jennifer."

James snorted. "You believe that old bat? She was probably just bluffing it, as usual."

"But Prongs, it sounded like she was real that time," said Remus earnestly. "Maybe Trelawney isn't a fraud as we might think."

"Yeah, and Voldemort believes in love," said Sirius, rolling his eyes, as Peter cringed at the name.

"Don't joke, Sirius," he pleaded. "I'm serious."

"No, I am."

"Padfoot!" exclaimed James, sighing. "Will you stop with that stupid joke already?"

"Gee, sorry, Prongsies, what's up with you?"

"I'm sick of you acting so childish about everything. Moony's in a dilemma, and you're making another crack about that stupid pun. Can you act like your name, for once?"

Sirius stared at his best friend, and gulped, looking around at Remus and Peter, who were just as bewildered as he. "Sorry, Prongs. I guess I can't really live with a gloomy atmosphere."

"It's all right. I'm just a bit stressed, that's all. Sorry, Padfoot."

"Is it about Lily? I can't believe she's going out with Goldstein. I mean, she even said she liked you."

"But I gave her a chance to discover her feelings for me," he returned, his eyes glued to the window outside of their dormitory. "I said that she can even date other boys until she realizes them, and I won't get jealous."

"You said WHAT?" demanded Sirius furiously. "Prongs, that would be the most stupid thing you've ever done in your life! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Sirius, calm down," said James smoothly. "I admit it wasn't so smart, but I really want to give Lily a chance."

"Hasn't she already had almost two years to think this over?" he growled. "I swear, Lily's nice, and she's my friend and everything, but sometimes she can be so damn _stubborn_ and _blind! _I mean, girls are so difficult."

"Tell me about it." Frank entered their dormitory, grinning slightly.

"Hey, Frankie," said James lazily. "How goes it?"

"Fantastic!" he replied with enthusiasm. "You were right, James. I had to tell Alice about my feelings, or I would've regretted it later on. Thanks, mate, really."

"You have to take the N.E.W.T.s soon, and all you're thinking about is Alice?" said Sirius dubiously.

Frank gave a sideways glance at the elegant-haired boy in front of him. "What were you thinking about when you took your O.W.L.s?"

"Arabella," he admitted shamefully.

"Exactly. Sirius, when you're in love, you tend to think about nothing but your object of affection."

"Too true," said James with a tone of sadness in his voice.

Frank smiled sympathetically. "No luck with Lily?"

"She's going out with Mark Goldstein," spat Sirius, as if it were a swear word. "I thought Lily was bad enough admitting her feelings, but she's gone too far!"

"Is that what's bothering you?" asked Frank, looking at his younger neighbor.

"Yeah. So…what made Alice change her mind about you?" He abruptly changed the subject.

"Oh!" He brightened at once. "Well, I told her the day before Valentine's Day. I found her crying in the common room late at night, so I comforted her. She told me that Sturges Diggle had broke up with her for Trish Vance, so I took my chance. I poured out my soul to her, and she admitted the same feelings. So now we're back together again. Thank Merlin, too, since Dumbledore looked as if he were going to die from all the arguments we had this year with each other." Frank grinned sheepishly.

"I'm glad everything's worked out for you," said James dismally.

Remus' expression softened. "Don't worry, Prongs, everything will be fine."

"Easy for you to say," he spat bitterly.

"Look, this is what happened to Jennifer and I," he said briskly. "Jennifer had been in love with me for nearly a year—"

"Don't start, Moony," snapped James. "I've been in love with Lily since last year. And you and Jennifer were second-years back then! This is different; we're sixteen, going onto seventeen. I have only one year left, guys, to win Lily's heart."

The Marauders were quiet after this. They had finally realized that James was right: he had only one year left to win Lily before she lost interest completely, or if another man captured her heart. They knew that James was devoted to Lily even more than Quidditch (which was a very hard thing to distract him from), and would do anything for her. But if only Lily could see that love was right in front of her and that she was too blind to see a thing.

"It's all Lily's fault," said Sirius after a while of silence. 

"Huh?" mumbled James incoherently. "What are you on about?"

"It's Lily's fault, not yours, mate. She's the one who's too blind to see the fact that she's in love with you, too. Oh, why do relationships have to be so complicated?"

"Well," began James, "I think that you're going a little too far as to say that it's actually someone's fault…"

"Oh, shut it, James!" his best friend cried.

Frank stared at the pair. "Look, James has a point, Sirius."

"You need to control that temper of yours, Padfoot," said Remus sternly. "You can't just go blowing off the top to everyone like that."

Sirius glared but did not answer.

"Hey, Siri," cooed Arabella, jumping onto her boyfriend.

The rest of the boys snickered loudly while Sirius flushed crimson.

"Hey, Bella," he mumbled.

"How come you can get into our dormitory?" demanded James, "but we can't get into yours?"

"That's because the Founders thought that boys were more untrustworthy than girls," she replied smugly.

"Does Lily like Snape?" asked Sirius suddenly.

Arabella raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get _that _idea?"

"'Cause she's always standing up for Snape and stuff. I mean, Snape doesn't like her anymore, but if she fancies him…"

She burst out laughing. "Oh Merlin, you have to be the thickest person alive, Sirius! Of course Lily doesn't like Snape!" 

"Does she hate me?" asked James, looking forlorn.

Arabella blinked in surprise. "No. Why do you ask? Lily adores you, but she won't admit it. Give her some time, James. I have to admit, though, that she does take advantage of you. She just doesn't realize how lucky she is to have someone like you to care for her, James."

"Amen to that!" cried Sirius.

"Do you hate Lily or something now?" asked Remus, rolling his eyes.

"As a matter of fact, I'm not feeling too chummy with our dear female friend Lily at this point."

"Sirius!" exclaimed Arabella, staring at him. "You don't mean that."

"Indeed, I do."

"Should I leave?" queried Frank uncertainly, looking from Sirius to Arabella. "I don't mean to impose…"

"Nonsense!" snapped Arabella, waving her hand. "You're welcome to stay, Frank, if you want. You'd understand our problem, after all, since you have a steady girlfriend who returns the feelings you have for her. Now, why do you think Sirius hates Lily?"

"I don't—" objected Sirius.

"I think that Sirius is just stressed out with everything, that's all," said Frank serenely. "He's almost a seventh year, and that causes stress for all of you. And he has to deal with certain issues that I don't think you want to know about." He winked at the boy, who flushed in response. "You should respect his feelings, Arabella. After all, with his best friend having unrequited feelings returned, you would feel some tension between his best friend's object of affection."

"You speak so eloquently," she said dreamily. "How do you do it, Frank?"

"Hey!" said Sirius jealously. "Don't talk to Frank like that; I'm your boyfriend, remember?"

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

Frank looked highly amused at the couple's exchange of "words". "It's from experience, I guess. I never knew that I spoke so 'eloquently', as you phrased it. But when you're a seventh year, about to propose to your girlfriend and start a new life, you get a bit wiser."

James looked up from _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland._ "You're proposing?"

"Yes," said Frank loftily. "And if she agrees, you'll be best man, James."

"I will? But what about Juan and Sturges—?"

"Oh, them." He waved the question off to the side. "Juan is turning out to be a player and a complete and utter jerk, and as for Sturges, he did break Alice's heart, though I'm secretly thanking him on bent knee for it."

Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Arabella laughed, while James grinned. "Thanks, Frankie. That means a lot to me."

"Hey, no problem, James."

"Who's the maid-of-honor, then?" pushed Sirius.

"One of Alice's friends, no doubt."

"Yeah, probably," replied Frank distractedly.

"Well, I'd better go." Arabella stood up and kissed Sirius, ignoring the catcalls that followed. "See you later, guys." 

"Isn't she amazing?" said Sirius, watching his girlfriend dreamily as her footsteps diminished. 

The other boys snickered at Sirius, shaking their heads mournfully of the thought of their friend, "Siriusly in love".

***

James had never felt this bad in his whole life. Sirius, his best friend, had told Snape how to allow entrance to the Whomping Willow and see Remus. What he was thinking at the time, James had no idea, but the very thought of Sirius being responsible for a death made his insides twist together like tangled knots.

Dumbledore peered through his moon-shaped spectacles at the three boys in front of him. "You do know the seriousness of the situation, don't you, boys?"

"Yes, sir," they chorused. Sirius had not even bothered to make another joke about his name being used.

"Mr. Black, I don't know what you were thinking for allowing Mr. Snape to have full view of Mr. Lupin as a werewolf. But I do assure you, if Mr. Potter was not there to save Mr. Snape, then there would have been severe consequences. You would have been expelled, along with your friends, and Mr. Snape would have been bitten. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," he mumbled in reply.

"I expected better of you, Sirius." The boy looked up in surprise. It was the first time Dumbledore had actually used his give name before. "Even though I knew you as a boy who took risks, I did expect you to at least know that you were almost the cause of a student's death."

"Sir, I'm sorry," said Sirius solemnly, "I really am."

Snape made a noise that sounded oddly like a snort, but didn't say anything.

"I do believe you are," said Dumbledore, with a glance at Snape. "You will be happy to know that no points will be taken from Gryffindor, because of the courage Mr. Potter showed tonight in rescuing Mr. Snape."

"Thank you, sir," muttered Sirius, looking close to tears.

"There will be no punishment for me, will there, Professor?" asked Snape anxiously.

"No, Mr. Snape, there will not, for tonight. But I must warn you, do not try any more risky dares in the future, for it will land you in trouble and danger."

Snape nodded, glaring at James and Sirius.

"And now, Mr. Black, if you would please leave. I wish to speak to Messrs. Potter and Snape alone."

Sirius left, with a sympathetic and apologetic smile to his best friend.

"Mr. Snape," began Dumbledore, "I am to say that you are, from this day, in debt to Mr. James Potter, for saving your life."

"I'm _what_?" said Snape, staring at James. 

"In debt to James. For he saved your life, though it was in rather different situations. However, he did prevent you from dying or becoming a werewolf, so you must still be thankful."

Snape was now mouthing wordlessly, his hatred for James inflating all the more.

"I'm glad we understand." Dumbledore looked rather amused. "You two may go."

James and Snape left the office, thanking the Headmaster.

"I can't believe I'm in debt to you, Potter," spat Snape. "Whatever the Headmaster says, I'm still not thankful. I'd rather die or become a werewolf than to be in debt to YOU."

"The feeling is mutual, Severus," said James calmly. 

"You—" Snape glared. "You planned all this! You bas—"

"Now, now, Snivellus, there's no calling names," chided James pleasantly. "I do hate you, of course, but now that you owe me a favor…" He grinned wickedly.

"You haven't changed a bit, Potter."

"Thank, you, Snivelly. I'm guessing that you were about to say that I'm still the 'arrogant berk and prat who doesn't deserve the attention he gets.'"

Snape silently seethed and stalked up to his common room, not looking back.

James chuckled slightly and headed for Gryffindor Tower. When he got through the portrait hole, he found the Marauders (excluding Remus) and girls all wide-awake, and nagging him with anticipation.

"Well, what happened?"

"What did Dumbledore say?"

"Is Remus all right?"

"Is Snape expelled?"

James snorted at the last question, whose owner happened to be Sirius. "Dumbledore just told us that Snape was in debt to me, since I saved his life."

"You saved his life?" repeated Lily doubtfully. "What exactly happened?"

"I told Snivellus how to get to Remus," said Sirius dully, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"YOU DID WHAT?" hollered Arabella, causing everyone to jump with a start.

"Do you want to wake up the whole Tower?" hissed Jennifer angrily.

"Sorry."

"Sirius, you didn't," said Violet, wide-eyed. "You told Snape how to get to Remus? At the night of the full moon? How thick can you get?"

"It was a joke," said Sirius timidly. "I was just getting fed up with Snape following us around, his wand pointed upwards, always trying to get us in trouble for something. I was sick of it! So I told him, since he called Lily a Mud—Mud—a you-know-what. He also insulted all of you, so I couldn't stand it any longer. And then Prongs saved Snape just in time when he heard what I had done." He hung his head down in shame.

"How did you save Snape?" asked Lily. "When you could've gotten hurt as well?"

James took a deep breath and looked at Sirius and Peter, who understood what was coming next. "We have to tell you girls something."

"Okay," agreed Jennifer, nonplused.  


He took a deep breath. "We're unregistered Animagi."

The girls exchanged looks of great surprise and shock. Whatever they planned the Marauders to say, it wasn't this.

"How?" asked Violet, her voice shaking.

"We started to make the potion in our second year," said James, undaunted. "Our plan was to make Remus' transformations less painful. And we finished in the summer before our fifth year started. I'm a stag, Sirius is a dog, and Peter is a rat. We follow Remus on every full moon to the Whomping Willow. Peter presses the knot, which freezes the tree, and we go off with Remus. Sometimes we even go to Hogsmeade…that's why we know all these secret passageways, and we eventually created the Marauder's Map."

Sirius took a blank piece of parchment from his robes and tapped his wand on it lightly. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Words began to scroll in curling letters, and secret passageways that the girls had never seen before appeared on the map. 

Lily looked at it in awe. "How did you make this?"

"Simple," said James modestly. "Each of us used our talents to make it. It would've been challenging if it was a one-person job, but we all pitched in."

"And no one else knows?"

"Why would we tell anyone else? It'd get us into big trouble. But we can trust you girls, since you've been our friends for nearly six years."

"We won't tell a soul," said Arabella firmly.

Sirius coughed. "Look, Lily, I'm really sorry about the way I've been acting lately. I guess I just didn't want to see you 'together' with Goldstein."

Lily gave a gentle smile. "It's all right. I broke it up with him last week anyway. I was going to tell you guys, but you seemed intent on either hexing Snape or exploring the grounds."

James blushed, and smiled slightly. "Yeah. Well, I can't say I'm glad—"

"Elated," interrupted Sirius, grinning.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but I'm really glad you did. Mark's a good guy and all, but he's not exactly someone you'd want to date. I mean, he plays with girls' hearts too much. He dumps one of the former Head Girls, and then he dumps the other sixth-year Ravenclaw prefect all in one week."

"And I thought Sirius was bad," said Arabella, snorting.

"Hey!"

The two groups retired to bed, but Lily caught up with James before he went up to his dormitory.

"James? Can I talk to you?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Look, what you did tonight…it was really brave."

"It was nothing."

"But you don't like Snape," she insisted, "so it must've been hard for you to save his life when you have ill will toward him."

"Look, Lily, I may be cold-hearted, or so you think," said James, "but I don't believe in trying to get people to be murdered. Snape isn't what I'd call innocent; I'd bet my whole life that he's a Death Eater, or planning to be one. But he's still a human being, though hard to believe it, and I don't believe in murdering people who haven't done anything. I mean, I know I've been torturing him since our first year, but I don't really have a good reason for it, I must admit. I don't know why I ever hexed him before."

Lily smiled. "You've really changed."

James shrugged his shoulders once more. "I'm not great or anything."

"Of course you are. You're smart, you're brave, and heck, you're even nice at times!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad that I at least seem decent to you."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Look, James, I'm really sorry for treating you so horribly since our fifth year. I still don't have feelings for you as you do for me, but I'm really trying."

"Er—" James didn't know what to say.

"I know I've been taking advantage of your love for me, so I'm apologizing. You were always a good guy, James; I'm sorry I ever thought of you otherwise."

"Look, let's just sever all those hatred vows we made in our earlier years," said James, now smiling as well, "and come to a consent. Friends?"

"Definitely friends."

The whole of Gryffindor Tower burst into applause, as each and every Gryffindor stood by their dormitory doors and clapped so loudly that James was surprised to find that McGonagall wasn't telling them off yet. But then he found the answer to his puzzlement: McGonagall was too busy herself clapping to even tell off any of her students. This brought great shock to the two sixteen-year-olds.

"What?" said James dumbly.

"You're finally at least friends!" cried Sirius, whooping loudly. "Finally! We've waited for six-and-a-half years, Prongs, and it's finally happened! Congratulations!"

Lily and James could not manage to utter a single word throughout this whole celebration.

"Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall smiled happily. "Congratulations to you as well."

"Professor?" whispered Lily, still in shock. "I…I don't know what to say."

"Just don't get into another argument with Mr. Potter, and I will be fine."

Everyone laughed at this, even McGonagall, who they've never heard even utter a single sound of delight before.

It was certainly a day—night, rather—of surprises.

***

"Well, when next year comes, we'll all be graduating," said James sadly, looking at the castle gloomily. "Hogwarts was my second home."

"Yeah, I'll miss it," said Sirius. "It was the only place where I could find people who liked me."

"Sirius, you're my brother…and I mean it." James turned to his best friend. "Don't think that no one cares for you outside this school."

Sirius grinned widely and hugged James, nearly crushing him. "Thanks, Prongs."

"Are we interrupting something?" asked Jackson slyly, as he walked closer and held hands with Violet.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Boys…always so suggestive and perverted."

"Don't you know it, Vi."

"Oh, don't start snogging in front of us!" cried Sirius, shielding his eyes from the couple, who had leaned closer to each other for the past few seconds.

"Oh, please, Padfoot, it's not like you and Arabella haven't done the same thing to us," said James, chortling.

"Well, that's different. I never said I liked watching _other _people kiss each other; I just said that I enjoyed kissing."

"Ugh!" Violet shuddered violently. "Sirius, shut up."

"So guys," said Sirius, changing the subject, "are we game? Meeting at Moony—er, sorry—Remus' house? And Jen's?"

"Sure," said Jackson, shrugging. "I don't want to intrude, though. I mean, you guys have been friends since first year, and I only joined your group 'cause I'm dating your friend."

"Nonsense," said James, waving it off. "You're welcome anytime, Jack. 'Sides, we need an eighth person, since Peter will be off in Switzerland for the whole summer."

"Splendid." Jackson smiled widely. "I've never really had friends like you guys before…my Ravenclaw ones aren't very loyal, to tell you the truth. All they want to do all day is study, work at the Ministry later on, and find a 'nice and serious' girl to settle with, and teach their children how to be just like them. I swear, they don't approve of me dating Violet, since they think we're 'too young'."

James and Sirius laughed, while Violet turned pink.

"Bad luck, mate," said Sirius, shaking his head. "They sound like typical Ravenclaws to be. But you should've been a Gryffindor; don't know what the Sorting Hat was thinking when it made you a Ravenclaw."

"It was probably for the best, anyway. It's probably because all the Bradleys have been in Ravenclaw since the beginning of time. Not a single one of us have been in another House, so I guess the Sorting Hat was just doing me a favor and helping me not get lectures by my parents of how I disgraced our Ravenclaw bloodline."

"Oh, definitely a Gryffindor," said James.

"Hey guys," said Arabella brightly, as Lily, Jennifer, and Remus followed her close behind.

"Hello," greeted Jackson, waving amiably.

Jennifer burst into giggles. "You know, Jack, Vi's lucky to have you as her boyfriend. You have got to be the sweetest boy alive."

Remus glared. "What about me, Jenny?"

"Oh, of course, you too."

"Yeah, and all I have is a boy who does nothing but snog and play pranks all day," said Arabella wistfully.

"You know you love it," retorted Sirius, winking roguishly.

"Oh, sure." She scoffed.

"We're still meeting at your house, right, Remus?" asked Lily. "And Jen?"

"'Course," the couple replied.

"Mum has to meet Remus anyway," added Jennifer, looking rather flushed. "She's been hounding me about him ever since she found out that I've been dating him since second year. We were young, but I must say, it was true love." Remus slipped his arms around her shoulders.

"Your Mum will love him," assured Lily.

"I don't know," said Remus nervously. "What about my—condition?"

"Dad would probably give a fit, but Mum won't mind," said Jennifer optimistically.

Remus groaned.

"What condition?" questioned Jackson curiously.

"Oh, nothing," said Violet hastily.

"Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked James, taking a deep breath.

"Sure." She followed him out to the lake, where there was no one in sight. "What is it?"

"You know I love you," he began, "and I just want to tell you that maybe you can give me a chance in our last year at Hogwarts. Can you please consider it, Lily? I've wanted you to become my girlfriend ever since fifth year, and now, a year later, I still have my heart to it."

Lily's eyes widened, and a single tear escaped her eyes, as she sniffed. "Oh, that was so sweet, James! And yes, I will consider your offer this summer." She smiled as she hugged him.

James felt a surge of elation spread through his body, as his heart began to lighten considerably. Impulsively, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. It wasn't a passionate or heated kiss, but a sweet and slow one. Surprisingly, Lily had not objected, and the younger children who passed by them could see that the couple were obviously in love, though Lily could not see it yet herself.

And further away from the lake, their friends were smiling at the kissing couple, glad that they finally realized that they were truly meant to be together.

They finally pulled away after a while, since the horse-less carriages arrived. They all managed to fit into one, and it was a long ride before they arrived and boarded the Hogwarts Express. They then proceeded to fit into one compartment, and chatted throughout the whole trip. The only person who didn't talk much was James, for he felt too happy to utter a single sound.

The Potters found their son nearly skipping with his trolley as he approached them. Mrs. Potter was quite puzzled at his ebullience, but Mr. Potter smiled knowingly and shook his son's hand.

"Finally did it, eh?" he asked, winking.

James looked at his father in surprise, but nodded eagerly. "You got that right, Dad. You see? The Potter charm does work."

Mr. Potter laughed. "It isn't the Potter charm, son; there's no such thing. But I'm happy for you, because you look like the spit-image of me twenty years ago when your mother finally agreed to have me."

James sighed happily again and waved to Lily. A sudden realization came to him: his friends were right all along. Ever since first year, they were so intent on making James believe that he and Lily were "meant to be". And now, he found that they weren't at all mistaken as he had thought they would be.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling earns everything.

A/N: All right, sorry it took me forever again! This chapter totally sucked, and I'm sorry about it :( And I'm really sorry to say that I can't continue this story until a long way from now, because my mom said that I have to concentrate on my SATs (*rolls eyes*), rather than my writing. But I'll be back next year, hopefully, or maybe by the end of September. I'm really sorry about it, but you know, parents control you until the age of eighteen, and that's five years from now for me :P

Thank you to all my reviewers of Chapter 23:

Kady Rilla Wholi – Hey! I liked that quote too! Thanks for reviewing!

Princess Punky – Gracias!

Dara Maeko – I know, it is sweet *sigh* I hope it isn't TOO fluffy though ;)

alli – I hope those three hours weren't a total waste for you!

Erynwen – LOL! I promise you that they will be together by part one of seventh year, and there will be no squabbles either :D

Kat44 – Oh, of course I HAVE to give a special thank you to you! You reviewed my chapters thoroughly, and with detail. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! :D

SilentMidnight – I'm glad you enjoy it!

Brook – Who dies? My characters? LOL!

Agloechen – Hope this was quick enough for you :)

X-Girl X-File – Well, I've updated! 


	25. Summer of Sixth Year

Summer of Sixth Year

__

I love you, Lily. Those words changed Lily's whole perspective of James Henry Potter. She used to think of him as an arrogant prat whose head was so big that she was surprised he could still go up on a broomstick. But James, unfortunately, acquired an enormous crush on her in their fifth year together, which proceeded, eventually, into love. And Lily hated love.

Lily was what people called independent. She didn't need anyone else, much less a man, to help her stand on her own two feet. She had always insisted to both family and friends that she didn't need anyone beside herself. She made a vow to herself to never give her heart to any man, no matter how tempting, because it made her vulnerable. And Lily definitely hated being vulnerable, especially to heartbreak and rejection.

However, she found herself falling hard and fast for the great almighty James Potter. Could anything be worse?

She wished that they could go back to the times where they hated each other. Where they both shouted insults and curses at each other and had quite a few numbers of spats from the common room to the corridors.

But Lily had to admit that James had changed for her, and she found her heart slowly giving in to his so-called "Potter charm". Why had she fallen? James took girls' hearts, but he discarded them all away, except for Lily's. Oh no, he wanted Lily's heart, and badly. However, it was different this time. It wasn't just another fling; it was true love.

All her life, Lily had fought against love and vulnerability, but now, entering her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she fell harder and faster than any other bubbly girl at school, and it made her depressed. She admitted that she was in love with James, but she didn't want him to know. He'd probably shower her with love and gifts, find another girl who was ten times prettier than she, and then dump her without a blink of an eye. But somehow, she knew this time it was sincere. James was no hypocrite, as much as he was conceited and egotistical. Deep in her heart, Lily knew that James would never hurt her. But you'd never know, right?

So Lily had decided to consult her three best friends: Arabella Figg, Jennifer Dean, and Violet Walker. And all three had told her the same thing: stop worrying so much and have the boy already. 

As serious as the situation was, Lily had to laugh at their replies. They could always make her life no matter what.

"Lily!" cried Mrs. Evans, shuffling near the entrance hall. "Lily, come down! We sup this very second!"

"Yes, Mum!" replied Lily, walking out of her room. 

"What were you thinking about?" her mother returned slyly.

"Nothing," lied Lily, a flush creeping up to her cheeks. "Why would you think something's up?"

"You wouldn't happen to be thinking about James Potter, now, would you?" said Mrs. Evans, ignoring her daughter's protests.

"Anne, don't bother the girl so," scolded Mr. Evans, shaking his head at his wife. "Though, Lily, I wouldn't object if you were thinking about the boy."

"Father! I was not."

"You were too," said Petunia, smirking at her sister. "You're always thinking about that Potter, that I wouldn't be surprised if you two got married."

"If only you knew," muttered Lily, as she proceeded to the kitchen and sat down at the dining table.

The meal was a rather loud one. Petunia had started to brag about Vernon's accomplishments and his dream of being in charge of a drill company, which Lily found extremely dull and ponderous…just as awful as Binns' History of Magic classes.

"Aren't you going to your friend Jennifer's house soon, Lily?" inquired Mrs. Evans curiously.

"Yes, Mum, next week."

"Is she inviting James over?"

"MUM!"

"What? What did I say?"

Lily was frustrated. "Why do you always bring up James to me?"

"Well, dear, I couldn't think of a better son-in-law than that boy. He's sweet, kind, and he has a definite thing for you."

Petunia sniggered into her napkin, and Lily shot her sister daggers over her bowl of chicken soup.

"Anne," said Mr. Evans, exasperated. "Do stop pestering Lily so."

"Is James coming though?" pushed Mrs. Evans, ignoring her husband.

"Yes, Mum, he is."

"How nice!" she said brightly. "Is that young rascal going as well?"

"Who? Oh, you mean Sirius Black. Oh, of course he's coming. Where there's James, there's Sirius."

"I take it that they are close friends."

"As close as you'd ever find any two boys. They're rarely seen without each other…Sirius even lives with James' family."

"And as I do recall, there were two other young men as well."

"Remus and Peter. Peter's pretty much just a tag-along, but he's pretty cool, and Remus is very nice and understanding, as well as the sanest of the group."

"They have a name for their group," said Mr. Evans thoughtfully. "What is it? The Melodies?"

"The Marauders, Dad," corrected Lily, giggling. "The most popular boys at school. I swear, they have about every single girl drooling after them like dogs looking at bones."

Mr. Evans chuckled. "Oh, they sound exactly like I was when I was seventeen."

"Do tell, Dad." Lily always loved to hear stories of his parents when they were younger.

"Well, when I was seventeen years old, I had a group of friends: Sam Ellis, Mark Rogers, and Glutty Davis. I also had the worst reputation of all four of us. I was kind of known to be"—he looked uncomfortable—"a player, so to speak. Anyway, to the point.

"Your mother didn't like me too much. She was one of those smart and bookworm types, with her own group of friends. But what she didn't know was that I was head-over-heels for her ever since I laid eyes on her. So my friends made a little bet with me, and bet me five pounds that I couldn't get her to go out with me.

"Unfortunately, they were quite right. I asked her out, and she rejected me on the spot. Of course, I was hurt, and my reputation went down the drain. I started to act like a normal boy, and then she took notice of me. The rest was history."

"That sounds like the relationship Jam—er—it's a good story, Dad." Lily blushed, as she had almost given away her dilemma to her parents. "James' parents had the same relationship when they were at Hogwarts."

"Did they?" Mr. Evans was genuinely interested. 

"But then you must marry James," insisted Mrs. Evans, giggling.

"Mum…" Lily rolled her eyes. "I can't believe Daddy said that you were the mature one at school! Look at you now."

"She's had some influence from my previous girlfriends," said Mr. Evans slyly. "They befriended your mother soon after she and I started dating. Wanted to know how she got hold of the 'great Steven Evans'."

"Were you vain, Dad?"

"As vain as a boy could ever be."

"Oh, probably not as bad as James was."

Mr. Evans turned serious. "Lily, I want you to listen to me, all right? James is a good boy, and I can tell, because I was nearly the worst boy you can know back in my days. I saw how much he changed since a few years ago, and I can see that he is very much in love with you. I saw it in those eyes of his, Flower. He has amazing eyes, that boy, and I saw love and anguish in them when he looked at you."

"Steve," began Mrs. Evans, but her husband held up a hand for silence. "Anne, let me finish please."

Mrs. Evans frowned and sank back into her chair, eating quietly once more.

"So, Lily, the next time James asks you out, please do all of us a favor and say 'yes'. I can see that your friends and even your teachers are looking forward for you two to be together at last. Yes, Anne, now, what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say that I haven't been influenced by those girlfriends of yours, Steve," she said stiffly. "I, for one, don't like any of them. I just tend to be a bit scatter-brained when it comes to my girls and dating."

Mr. Evans rolled his eyes. "I didn't imply—"

"Oh, yes, you did!"

Lily stood up. "May I be excused, Dad?"

"Of course, Flower."

Lily went up to her room again and heaved a great sigh. What was she to do? Everyone wanted her to be with James, but why?

__

'Cause you two are 'meant to be', said a voice she knew all too well.

"Oh wonderful," she sighed, "not you again."

__

Oh yes, Lily Evans: me. C'mon, I'm not that bad! I am part of you, after all.

"Yeah, an evil part of me."

__

I'll pretend I never heard you say that. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you should go out with James Potter. And mind you, I'm not just another pesky person; I'm a part of you, remember?

"Yeah, whatever. You're evil, you know that? I know I'm in love with James! But what if I catch him kissing another girl? Do you know how heartbroken I'd be?"

__

Certainly, my dear, I do understand. But you see, James is different. You even said so yourself.

"I suppose. But what should I do?"

__

Simple. Send him a letter, duh.

"Oh, fine. And this had better work, or I'll have your head."

__

You have my utmost sincerity.

Lily grabbed a roll of parchment and a quill, and began to write:

__

Dear James,

I know that I told you that I would think about your offer during the summer…and I have. I've finally admitted to myself that I love you. Yes, that's what I said, Potter! I love you. I know you probably think I'm joking, since I can see that stupid incredulous look on your face right now.

You're kind, you're loyal, you're smart, and you're sweet. I'm lucky to be the object of your affections. But I'm not done yet. I know you've changed, and I'd love to go out with you, but I'm afraid. That's right, you heard me. Me, Lily Evans, is afraid of love. And I hate it as well.

All my life, I told myself that I could stand on my own two feet without anyone's help, especially a man's. And by being defensive, I wouldn't be vulnerable, and be rejected often. But if we started dating, what if another girl prettier and smarter than me caught your eye? What would I do then? So you do see my dilemma?

So, James, I need you to prove to me that you are worthy, loyal, and would never reject or turn your back on me. I know it seems like a lot, but if you love me that much, you'd do it. And then I'll say "yes" when you ask me to go out with you.

Yours truly,

Lily

"Hannah, can you send this to James?" she asked softly, as she finished her letter. "You know where he is."

Hannah hooted softly in reply and took off with the scroll between her claws, into the night.

Lily lay down on her bed and closed the curtains, sighing. She looked over at her clock, and it read 7:30. Well, it was still early, so she might as well read. She took out a book from her bookshelf _(A/N: I'm going on to three bookshelves and proud of it! LOL!)_, and started to read. It was _A Tree Grows In Brooklyn_, one of her favorite American books.

Lily always loved the book, and read the ending at least one hundred times. The heroine in the story, Francie, was her idol. Francie had been cheated by a man she barely knew for forty-eight hours, and had to move on with life. Like her mother, Katie Nolan had said, "You will be happy again, but you'll never forget."

Lily pondered on those words. Would that happen to her and James? No, James had integrity. He was a good person, and would never cheat on her and pretend to be in love with her like Lee Rhynor had done to Francie.

__

Maybe I'm thinking too much, she thought wryly, as she stared up at the still-light sky outside. She was waiting with anticipation for James' answer to her letter.

But a horrible thought struck her. What if he didn't reply? Or worse, what if he replied and told her that he didn't care anymore, and found a new girl to love? 

__

I definitely need to get some sleep, mused Lily, as she clicked off the light switch, closing her eyes in the process.

***

Meanwhile, James' house was still rowdy and loud, as he and Sirius set off fireworks everywhere, keeping Mr. and Mrs. Potter quite entertained for the night.

"Hey, Prongs, look at this one!" exclaimed Sirius, setting off a bright neon green one. "Looks like Lily's eyes, hey?"

James turned pink and looked away. "Er—yeah, Padfoot."

"James, isn't that Lily's owl?" asked Mrs. Potter, peering at the small owl that was tapping at their window.

"Is it?" he said eagerly, and immediately sprinted toward the window and took the owl inside. 

"Oho, a love letter, is it?" said Sirius, grinning slyly. "Read it out loud, Prongs."

"No way!" James laughed and scanned the letter quickly. Then his eyes grew wide, and he nearly fainted dead onto the ground. Luckily, Sirius caught him before his head hit the floor.

"All right, Prongs?" he asked anxiously. "Was it Lily?"

"Sirius…" James smiled shakily. "S-She…she…"

"She what?"

"She's going to accept me if I can prove my love to her."

Sirius jumped up and started to cheer loudly, startling James' parents, who weren't paying any attention to their conversation.

"Sirius Black!" shrieked Mrs. Potter. "Stop it right now! What did the letter say, James?"

"Er—" said James shyly.

"This calls for a man-to-man talk," boomed Mr. Potter. "Now, Sarah, don't pester our son so; this conversation is for men only."

Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes. "Well, have fun."

"What about me?" said Sirius pleadingly. "I go too, right, Mr. Potter?"

"Merlin's beard, Sirius, call me 'Dad' already," said Mr. Potter, laughing. "And of course you're coming; you're a man too, and you're also my surrogate son."

"You mean it? Wow, thanks Mr. P—I mean, Dad." He grinned.

Mr. Potter took the two boys to his study, and motioned for them to sit down. They obeyed, not knowing what else to do in these situations.

"James, tell me what the letter says and what's going on between you and Lily for the past three years." He raised an eyebrow.

So James spilled everything, beginning from where he discovered his feelings for Lily in his fifth year, to the contents of the letter that he had just received. Mr. Potter listened gravely and attentively, not missing a single word.

"Well, James," he said, when his son finally finished his tale, "that's quite a story. Now, let me tell you something.

"When I was at Hogwarts with your mother—"

"Don't worry, I already know your story," said James hastily.

"What? How would you know?"

"Er—Professor Hurst told me at Potions one day."

Mr. Potter appeared angry. "That git told my son _our _story? Well, did he tell you how I got your mother?"

"He said that you charmed her or something."

James' father snorted. "Charmed her…ha! Yeah, right. No, James, that's what I'm about to tell you right now. I didn't _charm _your mother; it wouldn't be possible. No, you see, I showed her my love for her.

"It was Valentine's Day, and I took her to a small shop. Not Madam Puddifoot's, mind you; that place didn't open yet. So I took her there, and I told her why I loved her so much, and why she meant so much to me. And I tell you, James, my boy, that is no charm; it's honestly…it's the truth. Women like to hear about the truth from us men; they don't like it when we tell them in a roundabout way. They want it said plain."

"So you want me to tell Lily 'I love you' plain and straight?" asked James incredulously. "Dad, I've done that for at least ten times!"

"Hey, flatter her, will you?" Mr. Potter shrugged. "Tell her why. Tell her why you love her. There has to be a reason besides, 'she's very pretty'."

Sirius shot his best friend a full-fledged grin at that statement.

"You guys have got it easy," said James, groaning. "I mean, Sirius has had Arabella since second year. Sure, there were a few ups and downs in their relationship but all relationships have those. And you, Dad…you've got Mum."

"James, it wasn't easy getting your mum, and I still marvel, to this day, how I really did it."

"I'm best man, of course, at your wedding, Prongs," said Sirius suddenly.

He grinned. "'Course, Padfoot. Who else?"

Mr. Potter smiled. "Oh, now we're getting confident about this, are we? Good, I like that. You're boosting up your self-esteem."

"Dad." James rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't understand why Lily's afraid of love, though. Maybe I did something wrong."

"No, it isn't you, James. It's just that many girls are afraid of rejection and heartbreak. We're men, so we don't experience that as much as women. But let me tell you something, James: heartbreak is the worst thing that can ever happen to you in life. It takes away your soul and it shatters your whole life. It makes you break down and never be the same person again. So don't blame Lily for all this…all women feel the same. That's why you have to show her that you'd never break her heart and never let her go no matter what."

"That was beautiful, Dad," said Sirius, wiping away imaginary tears. Or so the Potter men thought they were imaginary, until they saw real shimmering droplets on his cheeks.

James blinked. He had never, ever seen Sirius cry before, and now he was crying because Mr. Potter had said a speech about winning a girl. It made no sense.

"Er—Padfoot? You all right? You're crying."

"Am I?" Sirius wiped away his tears and smiled. "Oops, there goes my reputation, huh? The girls will never look at me the same again."

"Who says they have to know?" retorted James. "It'll be our secret."

"Gee, thanks, Prongs."

"Shall I leave you two to it?" Mr. Potter smiled at the "bonding" that was going on between his son and his best friend.

"Thanks, Dad," said James absently. Mr. Potter left, still smiling at the boys.

"You know, Prongs, you've got a cool dad," commented Sirius. "He's everything I'd love in my own parents."

"Don't, Sirius," he said sharply. "You're part of the family now. Don't mention your parents…it'll make you depressed again."

"I s'pose you're right. Say, aren't you going to reply to Lily's letter?" He smirked.

James snorted. "Yeah, but not right now."

"Why not?"

"You think I'd reply to a letter in front of **you**?"

"Well, why not?" repeated Sirius, now frowning.

"Padfoot, I know you well enough knowing that you'd probably manipulate it in some way after I finish it."

"Now, Prongs, I think you're being a bit too accusatory here…"

"Aww…you know I'd never, Prongsies. Stop being so paranoid already. Oh, and we have to write to Moony and Wormtail about this as well…They need to be well-informed of our doings."

"Of course. You take Moony and I'll take Wormtail."

"Really? Gosh, thanks, Prongs! I wouldn't want to deal with the rat myself."

"Padfoot!"

"Sorry, Prongs." Sirius blushed. "But you know what the prophecy said; Wormtail was going to go to the Dark Side!"

"Oh, c'mon already. It's probably just a hoax that Voldemort wrote. You know it."

"I guess, but I just have a bad feeling about it."

James rolled his eyes once more. "You know, I'm starting my letter to Lily. I can't believe how paranoid my own best friend can be."

He grabbed a roll of parchment from his dad's bookshelf, as well as a bottle of ink and an elaborate peacock quill, and started to write in his elegant handwriting:

__

Dear Lily,

Your last letter brought surprise and elation to me. My heart felt as if it was going to burst when I read that you loved me too. You don't know how much those words mean to me, Lily. They're my "umbrella on a rainy day", as I've heard American Muggles say. Having my dad as an Auror is helpful for learning about Muggles.

Anyway, back to the gist. I will do anything to show you how much I love you. I will go as far as dying for you, because then I'd know that I died for you, and you lived, and that I had proved myself to you.

You're probably wondering why I love you. Well, I was going to tell you this in person, but I may as well tell you now. I love you because of everything you are, and everything you stand for. I love your dark red hair, and I love those almond-shaped green eyes of yours that look like pools of emerald water shimmering in darkness. I love your personality, especially your fiery temper, feistiness, and spirit. Those three things attracted me on the first day we met.

You're kind, loyal, and damn smart. I guess, what I mean to say is, I love you because you're different from everyone else…unique, as one may be permitted to say. To tell you the truth, Lily Evans, I love you because you're you, _and don't pretend to be yourself. I hate people with spurious personalities even more than I hate Snape, if that's actually possible. _

Now, Lily, I want you to say to me plain that you love me. I think I've said enough, and now it's your turn. I hope this wasn't too sappy to read.

Love, 

James

"Whoa, who knew you were a considerate person and a romantic, Prongs!" exclaimed Sirius in awe. "Man, Lily will be knocked off her feet after she reads this!"

"You think, Padfoot?" 

"I don't _think, _Prongs; I _know_."

James smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am a bit of a romantic now, aren't I?"

"I don't know why I'm saying this, Prongs, but I want you to teach me to be a romantic, too."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're pulling my foot."

"I'm quite serious, actually. Wait, no, don't say it, James! I'm in earnest."

"Well, Sirius, after I fell in love with Lily, I realized something. You can't be a romantic unless you've experienced the wonders of being with the girl or guy you truly love. Since you love Arabella, I can honestly say, Padfoot, that you are a romantic. Congratulations."

"Just like that?" he asked dubiously.

"Well, judging from the look on your face whenever Bella's mentioned, I'd say you're pretty good in the business."

His response was a hug that completely took him in surprise.

***

Remus couldn't stop grinning as Sirius told him the whole tale of what happened so far in the summer. Lily and James were almost together. Those words sounded unbelievable until now.

"Remus, be a gentleman and show the girls their room," said Mrs. Lupin, giving a critical eye on her son.

"Yes, Mum." He whisked away the girls and told them their room was right next to the Marauders'.

"Have fun," he added with a wink, and went downstairs again.

"Never knew Remus had it in him," said Violet, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, he is wonderful, isn't he?" said Jennifer dreamily.

The other three girls sighed at their best friend's dreamy state.

Back downstairs, James, Sirius, Remus, and Jackson were all in the Lupin's family room, listening to Sirius' so-called "chilling" tale, continued.

"—and now they're going out," he finished triumphantly, amid claps and cheers by the other two boys. James was too busy blushing.

"We're not going out, Padfoot," he said, annoyed.

"Yet," said Sirius, grinning.

"That's quite a story," said Jackson, genuinely interested. "Your children will be drooling by the time you finish it to them, James."

"Yeah, but I'll probably be the last to get married. After all, Lily still needs to think about it before we go out. You'll probably be the first to marry, Padfoot; you're already thinking of proposing to Arabella."

"Yeah, but what about Moony? He seems more like the husband sort, not me."

"I—er—" Remus stuttered awkwardly.

"You're not going to break up with Jennifer, are you?" said James, thunderstruck. "We thought you were joking last time!"

"I wasn't. I'm quite serious about it now, guys."

"Why would you break up with Jennifer?" queried Jackson, perplexed. 

"Our relationship isn't working out too well," he replied quickly.

"You guys look fine to me. Besides, you'd break the poor girl's heart if you break up with her. After all, Remus, you and Jennifer look pretty cozy and happy together."

James sighed. He knew that they couldn't tell Jackson about Remus being a werewolf, even though he was nearly part of their group now. But he had to take sides with Jackson. Breaking their long relationship that lasted for nearly all of their years at Hogwarts would break Jennifer's heart into pieces. He had a feeling it wouldn't do justice to Remus as well.

"You are so not going to do it," said Sirius angrily. "If you do it, Moony, I will hex you into oblivion."

"It isn't much of a choice," said Remus resignedly. 

"I still don't understand," said Jackson impatiently. "_Why _would you do this, Remus? I mean, look at the facts: you and Jennifer are totally in love with each other. Why spoil the relationship when you don't even know why yourself?"  


"I know why," said Remus, starting to get angry as well.

"Then tell us!" roared Jackson, standing up. Remus followed suite.

"What in Merlin's beard is going on?" demanded the girls, coming downstairs toward them. "Remus, Jackson, what are you _doing_?"

"He—" Remus pointed an accusatory finger at Jackson. "He insulted me, the prat!"

"I did no such thing!" shot back Jackson furiously.

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, what happened?"

"None of your business!" the both of them shouted at once.

"Jackson, you're acting a bit too aggressive now," said Violet, eyeing her boyfriend warily.

"You, too, Remus," stated Jennifer, clearly in shock. "You're usually not like this."

"Dinner, kids!" called Mrs. Lupin from the dining room.

The Lupin's house wasn't as large or as ornate as the Potter mansion, but it was still nice and cozy to be in. They also had a chandelier right above the table, and Mrs. Lupin was also an excellent cook like Mrs. Walker was when they visited last summer.

"Very delicious pie, Mrs. Lupin," complimented Sirius. But unlike Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Lupin didn't blush or giggle.

"Thank you, Sirius," she said graciously, smiling at the boy. "Have you had enough? There's plenty more where that came from."

"Oh, yes," said Sirius quickly. Everyone chuckled at his eagerness. Sirius was always one for food.

James shook his head. "Sirius always likes to flatter Mrs. Lupin, but it never works," he explained to the girls and Jackson.

"I was not," protested Sirius, "I was merely stating the truth."

"Yeah, right." He snorted. "You've had that same pie for at least one hundred times, Sirius. Your charm may work on your girlfriend and your numerous fan clubs, but it doesn't work on Mrs. Lupin."  


"That's right," agreed Mrs. Lupin. "I am a married woman of twenty-four years with two children, Sirius. I don't fall for your 'charms', as you call them, as twenty-year-old women do."

"Though I don't understand why," added Jackson, who was considerably calmer by then.

Mr. Lupin laughed lightly. Lily thought of him as a very nice man and very like Remus: quiet, yet kind. Mrs. Lupin, however, seemed the gregarious type; she laughed with the boys and shared jokes with them. Remus' younger sister, Rebecca Lupin, who was going into her third year at Hogwarts, was more like her mother in those ways.

"You boys are so immature," said Rebecca, rolling her eyes.

Sirius smirked. "Oh, but don't you love it, Becky. Say, you're going into your third year, right?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't happen to take Divination, did you?"

"Actually, I did. It sounded simple; all you have to do is make up a bunch of crap, and Trelawney will eat it up."

"Rebecca Lupin!" said Mrs. Lupin sharply.

James sniggered. "Now, now, Becca, no bad language."

"How many nicknames do they have for you?" asked Arabella.

"Three. Sirius calls me 'Becky', James calls me 'Becca', and my stupid brother calls me 'Beckums'."

"What about Peter?"

"Oh, he just calls me by my full name, Rebecca. As far as I'm concerned, he's the only sane person in their stupid group. It used to be Remus and Peter, but now that Remus has been under James and Sirius' influence, it's only Peter."

"Yeah, since you have a crush on our buddy," said Sirius, laughing.

"Oh, yeah," said Jennifer suddenly, "we've changed plans. You guys aren't coming to my house after all."

"Why the sudden change?" asked Lily curiously. "I thought your parents wanted to meet Remus."

"Oh—um—they already have," she said awkwardly. "Mum and Dad came by here by Floo Powder. We stayed here for two days. Mum loved him instantly, but Dad needed a little bit more convincing. He's suspicious of all magic folk, you see. But at the end, he found Remus 'an acceptable young man'."

"Well, that's good." Violet smiled.

After dinner, the group went immediately to the family room, which was quite commodious, and did their own thing. The boys, except James, played Exploding Snap, while the girls chatted. Soon, James decided that it was time for a chat with Lily.

"Lily? Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure." She glared at Arabella's sudden fit of giggles.

They went into the hallway. James was shaking from head to toe, and Lily was quite nervous as to what he had to say as well.

"Lily," he began, "I don't want to push you into becoming my girlfriend, but I really would appreciate it if you put your whole heart into the situation. I'm in love with you. As I said in my letter—"

"I didn't get any letter," she interrupted, her green eyes burning into his hazel ones.

"Oh, well, good thing I made an extra copy then." James took out a folded piece of paper out of his jeans' pocket and handed it to Lily.

Lily read the letter carefully, and tears came to her eyes. She had never imagined James Potter to be so sweet. The way he wrote those words…they were absolutely beautiful. But what she loved most about it was that he wrote it from the bottom of his heart, and she finally saw how deep those feelings went, as he had already poured out his whole soul to her in one piece of paper. She was still doubtful of dating James so suddenly, but Lily was absolutely certain that the unexpected was going to happen: she was going to accept James.

"James," she enunciated clearly, "I will go out with you when our seventh year arrives. I don't want to go into a relationship so suddenly out of the blue, and I want to wait a couple of months into school before we start dating. But I assure you, by November or December, I will go out with you."

James' jaw drooped, and his eyes clouded over. He hadn't expected an answer so quick, and her answer was definitely not what he expected her to say. But then, out of nowhere, he whooped so loudly that it startled Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, who were retiring to sleep, upstairs.

Everyone came into the hallway, alarmed. Sirius said, "What is it, mate? What happened?"

Lily smiled bashfully and took James' hand in hers. They instantly understood. "We're going to go out this year," she said shyly.

Sirius gave a whoop similar to James', and Remus and Jackson started to laugh and cheer. The girls screamed with joy, and soon Remus' parents and Rebecca had come to them, surprised and confused.

"What on earth are you guys all crying about?" the latter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The final couple," was the only thing Remus managed to choke out, but Rebecca understood at once.

"Oh, finally." She grinned at Lily and James. "Right now, or waiting a little while."

"Probably November or December," said Lily, grinning like mad.

"Oh, you lucky girl." She sighed. "I hate to admit this, since he's one of my brother's best friends, but James is very handsome."  


James burst out laughing. "Oh, Becca, you surprise me every day."

"This is so sweet," said Arabella tearfully, wiping her eyes with a tissue. Sirius put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"Well, kiss already!" roared Jackson. The boys and girls clapped in approval.

James looked into Lily's eyes, and then slowly leaned in, his lips on hers. It was slow and gentle, and Lily gave into the gentle demands of his mouth. And for the first time, however, neither of them pulled away for quite a time.

__

(A/N: This would've been the sweetest ending, but I'm nice, so I've decided to write more!)

After they ended the kiss, their friends cheered loudly. The girls were all crying, with their boyfriends comforting them, and the boys themselves—well—words did not even compare to their feelings. Sirius, Remus, and Jackson, especially Sirius, were cheering so hard that their lungs ached. Sirius smiled at his best friend of almost seven years, and was in complete bliss that he was happy for the first time in many years.

"I love you, Lily," whispered James quietly.

Lily's heart nearly stopped just then. All the memories of her past Hogwarts years floated right across her mind: her first ride to Hogwarts, meeting James, making a vow to hate James Potter forever, kissing James in a dare…it all passed by so quickly that it made her dizzy. But one thing was for certain. She and James were together, and nothing could tear them apart now.

"I love you, too, James," she said.

James' eyes widened. "You mean that." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Of course, silly. I mean it with all my heart."

James grinned a full-fledged grin, and kissed her again.

***

"No way," said James faintly.

"What?" asked Lily, peering over her own Hogwarts letter at him.

"I'm Head Boy," he countered weakly.

Everyone stopped shuffling papers to stare at him. James Potter, Head Boy? Who ever heard of such a thing? 

"Dumbledore officially lost his marbles," said Sirius, nodding.

"But you weren't even a prefect!" exclaimed Jackson.

"And you're Head Girl, I presume," said James, looking at his soon-to-be girlfriend.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I got the badge." She showed him it.

"If you all think I'm pulling your leg," said James, frowning at everyone's disbelieving looks, "then see for yourself." He held up the shining Head Boy badge.

"You would make _you _Head Boy?" said Jennifer. 

"Dumbledore, apparently. And you make it sound like a bad thing!"

"Well, technically, it is," said Violet reasonably. "You never set a good example for the younger kids. All you do is play pranks and break rules all day, James. How can you expect to live up to your name if you do that all day?"

"Well, I'll just have to change, then," replied James, smiling.

"Prongs, don't you realize that this is a disaster?" cried Sirius. "We have a Head Boy in our group…and one of the main ringleaders too!" He pretended to sob wildly.

"Oh, Sirius, shut up," said Arabella, sighing with resignation. "Will you ever grow up?"

"No," he said at once.

Jackson laughed and put his arm around Violet. As if by impulse, James did the same, and to his delight, Lily, instead of pushing him away, snuggled closer. All their friends smiled at each other gleefully.

"Finally, it's happened," said Arabella softly. "Remember in our second year, we were matchmaking them, Sirius?"

"How could I forget, Bellsies? Though we never dreamed that it would take this long for them to get together. But that's what happens when two of the most stubborn people who happen to hate each other end up together. I'm glad Prongs is finally happy, though." Seeing his best friend happy brought joy to Sirius that he had never felt before, except when he was with Arabella.

"I'm glad everything's okay," she replied, smiling, as she kissed Sirius.

James glanced over at his best friend. "Think they're talking about us, Flower?"

"Oh, James," said Lily, laughing, "what do you think? Of course they are! When have they not talked about us in all of their conversations? I'm glad that we're together, though."

"I thought we would start dating in November, or so," said James in surprise.

"True, that I want it to get settled in first, but I consider myself James Potter's girlfriend already." Lily grinned at the goofy look at James' face.

"Lily?"

"Yes?"

"You don't know how happy you've made me."

She stared up at him questioningly. "What?"

"I mean, I dreamed of this day ever since our fifth year. I would see myself and you holding hands and saying cheesy lines to each other…and now it's become a reality."

Lily sighed happily. "You really know how to get a girl, James Potter."

"Yeah, well, I think I've waited long enough for you, Lily Evans. I remember when you told me off that day at the lake."

She hesitated. "Do you really want to talk about it?"

James turned his head to look at her straight in the eyes. "Yes. Let's forget all our past misunderstandings and move on together with life."

__

"Leave him ALONE!"

"All right, Evans?" said James, his tone of voice changing.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated, looking at James with great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said James, "it's more the fact that he exists_, if you know what I mean…"_

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone._"_

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on…Go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."

James roared with laughter along with Sirius and Peter as Snape was hung upside-down in his underpants.

"Let him down!"

"Certainly," said James, and he jerked his wand upward. "Locomotor mortis!" he cried, as Snape had scrambled to his feet.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her own wand out, and James and Sirius eyed it warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet once more, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus – "

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."

"Apologize to Evans!" roared James.

"I don't want you _to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding to James. "You're just as bad as he is…"_

"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a—you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can—I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

She turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"

But Lily didn't look back.

"What's it with her?"

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius.

"Right," said James, looking furious now, "right—"

"It was horrible," said Lily sadly, looking away from James.

"I feel terrible about it," said James guiltily. "I never knew I was so bad back then. I mean, I had no good reason to hex Snivellus, as much as I still hate him. But I hexed so many innocent people…I've even hexed Frank before because he took five points from Gryffindor for me hexing Ulysses Boot."

"I remember that," said Lily, laughing. "You got a week's worth of detention, and the look on your face was priceless."

"Yeah…" James shook out of the reverie. "It doesn't matter. We have each other now."

Lily leaned over and kissed James again. And this time, the kiss went on and on, sweet and innocent, and didn't end for a very, very long time.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything. Also, the italicized part of the last part of the story is in "Snape's Worst Memory" in _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_.

A/N: *blush* All right, I lied! I said the next chapter would be up by September, but instead, I felt generous and have a nineteen-page chapter by the next day! Woo! Go me! But don't expect me to hand it out so easily next time…unless if I get reviews. Now, if I'm totally swamped with reviews, I will definitely try to update as often as possible. You have my word for it :D

Thanks to my reviewers of Chapter 24:

hannah – thanks a lot!

Princess Punky – hope you're not disappointed! *wink*

Agloechen – well, I've done my best, and I've done it in ONE DAY! Yes!

Kady Rilla Wholi – yeah, SATs suck, they really do. And school is just around the corner too. Ah, well. Hope you like this chapter! And yes, they are sort of together now *shouts and jumps for joy*

Oh, and I'm very sorry for the fluffiness in this chapter! I'm a hopeless romantic, you know *grin* 


	26. Seventh Year: Part One

Seventh Year – Part One

James fingered the shiny Head Boy badge, and sighed as he stared at all the new and old prefects alike in the carriage. He never wanted the job, but Dumbledore had appointed him, and he would be with Lily more often. The latter thought made him smile as he stared adoringly at the Head Girl.

"All right, being a prefect is a very great honor," began Lily, with a sideways glance at James. "Professor Dumbledore made sure that the best girl and boy from each House in fifth year be appointed with this duty. You must set an example for the younger children, especially the incoming first years. Anyone found abusing their position will be stripped of their badge, and a worthier being will take their place. You may not deduct points, but detentions can be given when necessary. Any questions?"

"Yeah," sneered a long-nosed Slytherin boy, "why did Dumbledore appoint a Mudblood as Head Girl?"

"Excuse me," said James sharply, "but there will be no foul language as a prefect! I shall let the Headmaster know of this immediately after the feast."

"And you're a Potter," continued the boy, unfazed. "At least you're a pureblood. I hear that you're going out with our Mudblood Head Girl. Blood traitor, you are."

"Oh, shut up, will you?" James roared, causing the Slytherin to jump in surprise. "You pathetic excuse for a human being!"

"James, let it go," said Lily, sighing. "It doesn't matter."

"But Lily, he insulted you!"

"James Potter!"

"Oh, fine." He pouted, causing the other girls sigh audibly. 

Lily frowned. She was quite a possessive person, and as far as she was concerned, James was as good as attached now, even though they weren't officially going out as a couple. 

"You will patrol the corridors for forty-five minutes," informed James, turning to the group of prefects again.

Just like two years ago, there were shouts of protests of this.

"Oh, come on, you didn't think being a prefect was fun and games, did you?" James rolled his eyes.

"Are you single?" asked a Ravenclaw girl, smiling.

"Not anymore, I'm not." He looked over at Lily, who immediately blushed and looked at her hands.

"So it's true then?" the girl persisted. "You're going out with _her_?"

"Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that, whatever-your-name-is?"

"Emmeline Vance," she said at once. 

"Right. Well, what're you all waiting for? To the corridors, all of you! Yes, even you, Vance."

"You have good leadership," said Lily, grinning, as she followed the prefects out of the carriage.

"Thanks." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not much, but I am trying. I guess it all comes naturally."

"That Vance was openly flirting with you," said Lily angrily. "Can you believe the nerve of her?"

"Well, we aren't going out officially, so I have every right to ask her out," said James teasingly. Seeing Lily's face, he added hastily, "Of course, I'm not going to. You're too good to lose. I've waited two years for you, Lily Evans."

Lily smiled and kissed James on the cheek. "I know you're not going to, James."

James felt a warm desire to protect her, and slipped his arm around her shoulders, sighing contentedly. Emmeline, who was sent by the other prefects to call out the Head Boy and Girl, interrupted them, however, before they could do anything else.

"Er—hello," said Lily amicably, as she slipped out of James' grasp.

"We need you at the corridors," said Emmeline stoically. She obviously wasn't pleased that James only had eyes for Lily, instead of her.

"Oh, of course. C'mon, James."

Lily and James followed Emmeline out of the carriage and into the corridors, where the other prefects were waiting. Some of them were smiling knowingly, while the others raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"Sorry for the wait," apologized James, clearing his throat. "We were a bit distracted."

"Some Head Boy you are, then," said the same Slytherin who had called Lily a Mudblood.

He glared. "Who gave you permission to talk, kid? Who _are _you, anyway?"

The Slytherin smirked. "I'm surprised you can't recognize me, Potter." He stuck out his hand. "Regulus Black."

James jumped back in alarm. "You!" he hissed venomously. "I knew the word 'blood traitor' sounded familiar! You're Sirius' kid brother."

"Who's Sirius?" asked Emmeline.

"My best friend. Sirius Black…you know him. We're the ringleaders of the Marauders."

"Oh, _him._" She sighed dreamily. "He's so handsome; is he taken?"

"'Fraid so," said Lily, looking amused.

"Anyway." James turned to Regulus again. "You and your stupid family has made Sirius' life a living hell. You're nothing but a—"

"Now, now, Potter, you're Head Boy," said Regulus smoothly. "No foul language."

James opened his mouth furiously, but closed it tightly. "Get to work, Black."

Regulus raised an eyebrow, and then sneered. "You'll be sorry for insulting my family, Potter. And you'll be sorry you ever dated that stupid Mudblood."

"Let it go, James," said Lily quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "He isn't worth the trouble."

"He's Sirius' little brother," said James coldly, glaring after Regulus. "I'm going to get him some day. Sirius said that he was a Death Eater."

"Oh, James." Lily withdrew her hand. "You don't mean that."

"'Course I do. Sirius told me that Regulus was brainwashed by his parents, and that they all support Voldemort."

"But Sirius is so different from them…"

"Yeah, he's the black sheep of the Black family. Good thing, too, or else he and I would be enemies." James chuckled slightly.

She smiled. "Well, I'm glad that he doesn't believe in purebloods ruling the world."

"Sirius? He'd never believe that crap."

"James!"

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, Prongs!"

The heads turned around to see the Marauders and girls waving joyfully at them. 

"How is Head Boy duty, Prongs?" asked Remus, smiling.

"Terrible. Padfoot, you won't believe who one of the new Slytherin prefects is!"

"Who?"

"Regulus."

"My **brother**, a prefect? Oh, mother must've been jumping for joy when she got that news." Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, Mother was pleased, in fact, brother, which is more than I can say for you," said Regulus, smirking. All the prefects forgot their duties and watched the exchange with interest.

"Oh, wonderful," said Sirius sarcastically. "I get to deal with a soon-to-be Death Eater. How does it feel to almost be one of Voldemort's servants, Reg?"

"Shut it, Sirius," spat Regulus disgustedly. "You blood traitor! You broke Mother's heart by leaving home without a single glance back. You, mingling around with blood traitors, Mudbloods, and halfbloods!"

"Don't you dare call Lily a Mudblood, you Dark Arts follower! You and the rest of our blasted family follow Voldemort's path. Well, I don't! I'm on my own now, Reg, so none of you can stop me. I'm nearly eighteen, which is the legal adult age."

"Ha! You've been living off of charity of blood traitors, you have, Sirius."

"For your information, Regulus, my best friend, James, and his family are not blood traitors."

"Sirius," said Arabella, sighing. "Please stop."

"Oh, so this is your half-Squib girlfriend, Sirius." Regulus looked at her up and down. "Well, she's good-looking, to say at the least. But she's got a mum who's a Squib! If you need to pair up with someone, dear brother, then pair up with Walker here." He jabbed his finger toward Violet. "She's got a Slytherin mother, at least."

"Excuse me?" said Violet incredulously. "I happen to have a boyfriend already, thank you."

"Right, that Bradley from Ravenclaw. Well, he isn't a Gryffindor, is all I can say."

"Let's ignore him, Sirius," muttered Jennifer, rolling her eyes. 

Sirius reluctantly left his little brother alone, and went to talk with his friends instead, but cast furtive looks around at the younger Black now and then with a hateful expression upon his face.

"Damn brother," he muttered ferociously.

"So, Prongs, are the little prefects listening to you?" asked Remus, trying to make the atmosphere more cheerful.

"Most of them," replied James, deciding not to mention Regulus' interruptions. 

"There's this Vance girl from Ravenclaw that keeps making eyes at James," said Lily huffily.

Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet laughed, while the boys (excluding James) held amused expressions upon their faces.

"Lily, Prongs isn't even yours yet," said Sirius, grinning.

"But we're planning to date," she argued.

"Yeah, but Prongs can have a rendezvous with any girl before you agree to date him, and it wouldn't be called an affair, either."

"Yes, but—"

"Oy!" James waved his hand around impatiently. "Don't worry, Lily, I won't date Vance or any other girl, no matter how tempting they might be."

A look of relief went upon Lily's face. "Thank you, James."

"This is getting too fluffy for me," muttered Sirius.

Arabella scowled. "Shut UP, Sirius! Merlin, sometimes I don't even know why I started to date you."

"Aww…but you know you love me, Bellsies."

"If you must call me something, than call me 'Bella' or 'Bells'! Not _Bellsies._"

"Come on, can you guys just stop bickering for once?" said Jennifer resignedly. "You two are just like Lily and James!"

"Where's Jackson?" said Lily, looking at Violet, and trying to start a decent conversation.

"He's with his Ravenclaw friends again. He was with us for a while, but then his friends dragged him away and I have a feeling they're lecturing him on the importance of studying this year, since we're taking our N.E.W.T.s."

"Oh Merlin!" cried Lily. "I forgot!"

James couldn't help but smile. "You, the Gryffindor bookworm, forget that we're taking our most important standardized tests this year? What's the world coming to?"

Everyone laughed appreciatively as Lily blushed to the roots of her hair.

"So, James," said Emmeline coyly, "would you like to go to our first Hogsmeade trip with me?"

He sighed inwardly. This girl certainly couldn't take a hint even when she had walked in on him and Lily kissing. "No, I'm sorry, Emmeline, but I'm taking Lily."

Emmeline looked at him wonderingly. "Oh! You're going out!"

"Took you a while," muttered Sirius to Arabella. She snorted in response.

"Er—sort of," said James nervously. "We're going to go out as soon as Lily feels comfortable to publicize it."

"But then you can take me somewhere before Evans agrees!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, girl! Can't you take a hint? James won't ask any girl out except for Lily, so you can just bugger off."

"Well, what about you?" She batted her eyelashes.

"_I_, miss, have been attached since my very first year at Hogwarts." Sirius grinned at Arabella, who smiled back.

"And you?" Emmeline turned to Remus, smiling.

"I am, as well. Sorry to disappoint you." He put his arm around Jennifer possessively.

She looked crestfallen and didn't even bother glancing at Peter, who was eyeing her hopefully.

"Hey, guys," said Jackson, tumbling out of the compartment next to where they were all standing. "Sorry I disappeared, but my friends dragged me into their compartment and started to lecture me on our N.E.W.T.s and homework." 

Emmeline's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Oh, go out with me!" she squealed at him, flapping her arms wildly, which made her look oddly like a maniacal duck.

"Er—" Jackson looked at his friends and girlfriend for an explanation, but they roared with laughter instead. "Sorry, I have a girlfriend."

"WHAT? Why are you all attached? How come I don't have a boyfriend?"

"Bad luck, dear," said Lily briskly. "Now, shouldn't you be inspecting the corridors?"

"Yes," she replied sulkily, and set off to marching around with the rest of the prefects.

Lily suddenly pitied Emmeline. Even though she was a flirty coquette, she was still a prefect and therefore must've gotten good grades throughout her Hogwarts years. And Lily knew exactly how she felt, seeing everyone else paired off but herself.

"Wait, Emmeline!" she called. In a lower tone, she said, "You can go off into other compartments and search for a boyfriend if you want. But only fifteen minutes, mind you."

Emmeline beamed. "Oh, thank you, Lily!" She quickly rushed off to the compartment where Jackson had just exited.

"Bathroom," she informed all the other puzzled prefects.

"What was that all about?" said Arabella, perplexed.

"Let her off for fifteen minutes so she can find a boyfriend," said Lily.

"You can't find a boyfriend for fifteen minutes!" her best friend exclaimed.

"Well, at least the poor girl wants to be attached for once. Just let her have a fling, even, I say."

James smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist. "You're one in a million, Lily."

Emmeline came back, exactly fifteen minutes later, in the arms of a good-looking boy that they recognized as Kenneth Hughes, a sixth-year Gryffindor who had been prefect last year.

"Hello, Emmeline," greeted Lily, taken aback at the sight of Kenneth.

"I'm attached now; thanks Lily," whispered Emmeline, her eyes shining, as Kenneth followed her around like a puppy as she proceeded her prefect duties.

Violet blinked. "That was interesting."

"How did she snag Hughes so fast?" said Sirius in awe. "I heard that he was one of those hard-to-get guys!"

"Like you?" said Lily wryly.

"Of course! I'm very hard to get, since I've had a girlfriend for seven years now. And hey, I stayed with the same one, too!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Arabella, frowning. "Then what about Alanna Macmillan? Or Lori Paterson? Or—"

The couple had gone off to another compartment to argue, while everyone else sighed helplessly. 

Lily smiled at James. "We've got a lot to do this year, Mr. Head Boy."

He grinned back. "Are you up for it, Ms. Head Girl?"

"Definitely."

***

"I'm _not _up for this," groaned Lily, staring at her list of Head Girl duties and her homework at the same time.

James sniggered. "You said you were definitely up for this year, Lily."  


"Shut it, Potter."

"Hey, don't say 'shut it' to your boyfriend, now! Remember, we're actually going out now, and the whole school's in shock about it."

Lily couldn't help but smile. "Well, we have hated each other for—what, five years?"

"Pretty much. I stopped hating you around the middle of our fifth year, though."

"Oh, right." She rolled her eyes. "You kept asking me out constantly like a stalker."

"I was not a stalker!" said James, pouting.

"You were!" She laughed merrily, and tumbled out of her chair in the common room as James started to tickle her.

All the younger students stared in awe as their Head Boy and Girl teased and flirted in the most immature way possible.

"Oy!" Sirius waved his arms around. "Stop it, Prongs, Lily, before you corrupt the ickle firsties!"

"Geroff…James!" cried Lily desperately, as James had started to tackle her mercilessly again.

"Oops…" He grinned and waved at the smaller children, who immediately turned back to their homework again.

Arabella went into a fit of giggles, while Jennifer and Violet just smiled at the scene that had just occurred. The rest of the Marauders grinned at each other. They didn't care that it was rather too mushy; they were just happy that Lily and James were finally together and in love.

"Oh, yeah," said Lily, perking up. "I just got a letter from Alice yesterday. She and Frank are getting married in June, and they want us all to attend."

"They're getting married so early?" said James, flabbergasted. "But they're barely nineteen."

"Voldemort's getting stronger, James, and Frank didn't want to take any chances. He proposed right after they got off the Hogwarts Express this year."

"Hey, Frank never told me a thing!"

Lily put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "Well, you didn't expect him to tell you, did you? You would've told the world already and spoil the whole surprise!"

"But he didn't seem at all excited when I went over his house on the first day of summer."

"Well, he's good at keeping his emotions in check, then. Which is more than I can say for you, by the way."

The whole Gryffindor common room watched with amusement as Lily and James continued their little bicker. They were too used to these to even be affected by them; even the first years were starting to adapt to their little arguments.

"Do they always do this?" asked one first year to Sirius.

"Always," he corroborated, grinning at his best friends.

"Hey, Head Boy and Girl!" cried Kenneth, waving his hand. "Prefect meeting right now. Have you forgotten? You were the ones who set up the date."

"James, hurry up!" shouted Lily anxiously.

She nearly dragged him all the way down to the Prefect Lounge, where nearly all the prefects were getting settled in and waiting for their Head Boy and Girl. Most of them smirked when they saw them come in with disheveled appearances.

"Sorry we're late," said James, flashing one of his heart-winning smiles that made all the girls sigh dreamily. "A bit preoccupied."

Regulus snorted in disbelief. Kenneth burst into the room, panting.

"Gee, you could've slowed down!" he said, and immediately seated himself next to Emmeline, who giggled.

"We have to decide on a Hogsmeade weekend," began Lily, "so does anyone have any suggestions?"

Laura Smith's hand shot up at once. "I think it should be on Halloween."

"Anyone else with any suggestions?"

No one raised their hand.

"So is it unanimous, then?" said James questioningly.

Everyone nodded wordlessly, as they slowly raised up their hands dully.

"Why the long faces?" asked Lily curiously. "You don't look so enthusiastic."

All the prefects, even Regulus, poured out their woe stories of too much O.W.L. homework, and for the sixth-year prefects, just homework in general.

"Ah, yes," said James sympathetically. "We know how you feel. We're taking our N.E.W.T.s this year. I remember my O.W.L.s very well."

"Were they hard?" asked Laura at once. "And what did you get?"

"No, they were not too hard, at least not to me at least. And I got fifteen O.W.L.s."

She gasped in surprise. "That's hardly possible."

"Well, I'm not joking. And Lily got fifteen O.W.L.s herself."

"You weren't a prefect," pointed out Regulus, rolling his eyes. "How can you be Head Boy, then?"

A slight murmur of surprise rippled through the prefects as they looked up at their Head Boy in shock.

"True, I didn't get the prefect badge; my friend, Remus Lupin, did instead. However, I do believe that Dumbledore found me competent enough to ignore the usual rule of having the Head Boy have records of being a prefect as well."

"I hear your dad's Daniel Potter," said a Hufflepuff, Naomi Jones, in a hushed voice. "Is it true? The famous Auror?"

"Er—yeah, that's him all right." James laughed nervously.

"And I take it that you're following right into his footsteps," said Regulus disdainfully.

"Well, what else, Mr. Black?" He sounded oddly like Professor McGonagall scolding Sirius.

Regulus grinned. "You know, Potter, you are very useful to the Dark Lord. You can always follow his footsteps instead of your father's."

James raised his eyebrows, and looked at Lily. What was Sirius' brother getting at? Surely, he knew that Potters were all against the Dark Arts.

Lily froze when she had heard those words from Regulus. It was now known to the Marauders and girls that Voldemort was after James, because he had the potential to be just as a powerful wizard as he, maybe even more. But Lily also knew that James would never turn sides for things like power and glory. However, the thought of James going over to the Dark Side still unnerved her at times.

She shook her head, clearing away all those thoughts. "I was thinking," she pronounced slowly, "that maybe we should have a Halloween dance this year. If you all want to, of course."

There were murmurs of excitement at this announcement, especially from the girls. The boys just stared up at the Head Boy and Girl blankly, as if contemplating their sanity.

"I think it's a grand idea," piped up Emmeline, her cheeks flushed. "I vote for a dance!"

"Hear, hear," cried Laura.

"Do we have to adorn ourselves in frilly costumes?" asked Irwin Macmillan, whom James recognized as Alanna Macmillan's younger brother.

"It is a choice, but I suppose it doesn't have to be mandatory," said Lily.

"Now, for Christmas, I was thinking—" began James.

"Wait!" exclaimed Kenneth, waving his hand in the air.

"Yes, Mr. Hughes?"

"I was thinking that there might be more activities than just the dancing," he said rather timorously, for nearly every single eye was on him in the room. "You know, in cause we don't know how to dance, or something."

Lily nodded emphatically. "Yes, all right, Kenneth."

"You don't know how to dance?" said Regulus rudely.

"N-no," replied Kenneth in an even smaller voice.

"Mr. Black, that will be all," interrupted James sharply. He was sympathetic to Kenneth, since he didn't dance very well either.

Regulus glared at him, but did not reply back. After all, he didn't want to lose his prefect badge, or his mother would be sorely disappointed.

For the rest of the meeting, the prefects and Lily and James were planning all the other activities for the Halloween party. They all looked up to their Head Boy and Girl, for most of them knew that Lily and James had hated each other ever since their first year at Hogwarts, so it struck the younger prefects that they were actually dating and in love.

"That's all for tonight," concluded Lily, nodding at all of the prefects. "You may go."

Lily and James walked out of the room hand-in-hand after the prefects had exited. James inhaled Lily's sweet lilac scent, and sighed happily. He finally had his girl, and all was well with the world…well, except for Voldemort. But he could wait.

When they entered the common room, they found everyone still glued to their seats and scribbling on parchment or leafing through textbooks. The Gryffindors looked up briefly to acknowledge their Head Boy and Girl, but then went back to their work again. Lily and James found their friends huddled together in a corner, with the boys muttering spells under their breaths and pointing their wands straight at pincushions.

"'Lo, guys," said James with a yawn. "What're you doing?"

"Levitation charms," muttered Sirius, glaring at his dark blue pincushion. "Damn thing! It won't budge."

"Did you do a nice swish with your wand?" said Lily knowledgeably.

"Er—I don't think so."

Lily then went off explaining about Levitation charms, while James just stared at her with a lovesick expression upon his face, which the Marauders found quite amusing.

"And I thought you knew everything," she finished, grinning at a red-faced Sirius.

"I need to go to bed," announced James, his eyelids drooping.

"What about your homework?" said Lily sternly.

"Finished," he mumbled tiredly. "Stop nagging, Lily."

"You're finished? But that Transfiguration essay is two rolls of parchment!"

"Well, that happens to be my best subject, with my wand and everything." James grinned, despite his fatigue.

Remus smiled at his friend. "Go off to bed, now, Prongs. We'll wake you up in the morning if you don't yourself."

"Thanks, Moony." He clapped his werewolf friend on the back, and headed for his dormitory.

"Isn't he wonderful?" sighed Lily, watching her boyfriend go up to his dormitory with a dreamy expression.

Arabella exchanged looks with Jennifer and Violet.

"If we told you last year that you'd be dating James Potter later on, you would've told us we've had too much mead or something," said Jennifer, shaking her head.

"Well, I still can't believe I'm going out with James," said Lily, with a goofy smile on her face. "But I guess it was inevitable from the start, huh? We were 'meant to be', like you guys always love to say."

"We all have our soul mates, in my opinion," said Arabella quite forcefully. "Even Vi."

"You think?" asked Violet curiously.

"I don't _think,_ Vi; I _know._"

"You know, that sounded exactly like something Sirius would say," commented Jennifer.

"Well, obviously; we're soul mates, aren't we?"

The rest of the girls just looked at each other and shook their heads.

***

"Oh, Merlin," breathed Lily, grasping James' arm. "James…the Ministry!"

Everyone in the Great Hall that day, which happened to be Halloween and a Hogsmeade weekend, was poring over the _Daily Prophet._ Voldemort and his Death Eaters had recently attacked the Ministry, and many of the students' parents, neighbors, or relatives worked there, including James' parents.

"'_Aurors Daniel and Sarah Potter are one of the many Aurors who were at the scene_

shortly after the attack. No one was killed, but several Ministry workers were slightly injured.' Merlin, Voldemort means business now. I mean, attacking the Ministry?" James looked very apprehensive after reading the sentence.

"He won't take over our world," said Lily firmly. "After all, Dumbledore's the only one that he fears, so we'll be safe at Hogwarts. But what about my mum and dad? Voldemort knows who I am, and he kills Muggles and Muggle-borns." Her voice shook slightly as she said this.

"I won't let Voldemort get you, Lily," said James, putting his arm around her. "Not you or your family. Ever."

Lily smiled weakly, despite her doubt. "Thank you, James," she whispered.

"Well, well, if it isn't Potter and his Mudblood." Lucius Malfoy sneered at them, as he strolled over to the Gryffindor table.

"Bugger off, Malfoy," snapped James. "We don't need slime at this table."

Everyone laughed, as Sirius gave James a thumbs-up.

"The Dark Lord wants you, Potter," spat Malfoy. "So you'd better not make a wrong move. He does not like it when people defy him."

"How would you know?" said Sirius bitterly. "Work for him, do you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be telling you, would I, Black? Pity you aren't like the rest of your family…especially that cousin of yours."

"You stay away from Narcissa," said Sirius threateningly. "She may be just another Black, but she's still my blood relative."

"Oh, but your dear aunt has already approved of us, together, Black," whispered Malfoy. "As she has for Bellatrix and Rodolphus. You could have been one of **us**, Black, if you weren't such a Mudblood-lover and sorted into Gryffindor." 

"Go away, Malfoy," said Lily wearily. 

"I didn't ask _you_, Mudblood."

"You take that back!" roared James, standing up with his wand pointed straight at Malfoy's chest.

"James, no!" hissed Lily. "It's not worth it."

"'Course it is," he muttered back.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, what do you think you're doing?" said McGonagall furiously, as she marched up to the boys. "Mr. Potter, I expected better of you, as Head Boy! You should set an example for the younger children."  


"Professor," said Malfoy in his oily voice. "Professor, this is all Potter's fault, and I had nothing to do with it."

"You insulted Lily," snarled James. "You called her a Mud—a Mud—a you-know-what!"

"Mr. Malfoy!" McGonagall glared at the blond boy. "Thirty points from Slytherin for such abominable name-calling."

"Professor McGonagall, you can't," said Professor Hurst angrily, standing up to the elder witch from the High Table. "It was just a name, Minerva, there's nothing—"

"Oh, just a name, is it?" shrieked McGonagall. "Well, you would think that, Professor Hurst, since you do use the name yourself, but I assure you, I will not tolerate it in this school by myself as deputy headmistress to boot!"

"My dear Minerva, do calm down," said Professor Dumbledore with equanimity. "Thirty points from Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy, and ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. That will be all." As serious as the situation was, Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled with amusement as he allowed a small wink, which only James saw.

The Great Hall had gone completely silent, as they witnessed the scene with amusement, interest, or anger. James' face was still red with fury, but he calmed down considerably after Dumbledore's wink. Malfoy stalked back to his Slytherin table, still fuming.

"It's just like you, James, to pick out a fight on a Hogsmeade weekend," said Lily, sighing. 

"Oh, well." He shrugged. "You're going with me, anyhow."

"Am I?" She feigned mock surprise. "I thought you'd be asking your girlfriend, James Potter; not me!"

James laughed. "Who else would I ask but my girlfriend, Lily Evans? Will you go with me to Hogsmeade."

"Of course, you dope." She chuckled and went on eating her breakfast.

"I can't believe I'm going to be related to the Lestranges and Malfoys," groaned Sirius, putting his head in his hands. "Not that I'm not already related to them, anyway, but I have no idea how I'm related to them now."

"What?" said Jennifer, confused.

"All the pureblood families are interrelated," explained James. "Like, we're related to the Blacks, Figgs, Walkers, and practically every pureblood family. There aren't many left now, since we're all marrying Muggles so that we don't die out. But Sirius' family…"

"All right, Prongs, I think that's enough," Sirius growled. "Anyway, what he means to say is that the Blacks have a very long pure bloodline, but I could care less, unlike the rest of my damn family, except for Andromeda. I wish I could've seen my aunt's face when she found out that Medie married Ted _and _had a Metamorphmagus child named Nymphadora."

They all laughed only out of politeness, for they weren't very keen on touching upon family histories. The Marauders and girls knew that Lily and Jennifer had Muggle blood in them, despite them having magical powers.

"So, Prongs," said Sirius subtlety. "Going to tell us what's in store for us at the party tonight?"

James sighed. "Haven't you bugged me enough? No, I won't tell you, Padfoot."

However, James couldn't be really mad at his best friend, for he was too happy. Having Lily as his real girlfriend now…what could possibly get him to be angry again? The thought of telling every single person he met that Lily was his girl made him feel happiness he thought he'd never have again. He smiled, thinking of his parents' faces when he had written to them just a couple of days ago, telling them that he and Lily were officially going out. They had sent him a reply full of raptures and congratulations, especially from an ecstatic Mrs. Potter. Life was perfect at that very moment.

Even though Voldemort was gaining full power and was murdering Muggles, Muggle-borns, and even some pureblooded families who were a threat to him, James didn't really care at that point. He had his family, his friends, and especially Lily. It was perfect for him, and even though the world started to crumble outside the castle walls, he still felt safe and alive.

"James?" Lily poked her boyfriend. "Is there something wrong?"

"Huh?" He looked up from his reverie. "Oh…nothing wrong, Lils. Just thinking, that's all."

"The almighty James Potter thinking? What is the world coming to?" She grinned at him playfully.

"Yeah…"

"James, really, what's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "I was just thinking how everything's perfect at the moment. I have my family, friends, and you. But I can't help feeling guilty that I'm so happy when Voldemort and his followers are killing so many people. Do you think me despicable?"

"Oh, James, of course not!" exclaimed Lily. "There's nothing wrong with feeling happy. In fact, feeling happy during hard times will pull you through easier. You have to have some optimism during these times, and I'm glad you do."

"Really? Thanks, Lily; you can really cheer up a guy, you know."

Lily giggled. "Yeah, I'll bet you're the only one who thinks so. I'm not that much of a popular girl like Deanna. I still don't know why you like me."

"Love you," he corrected. "And I already told you, didn't I? Do you want me to give you a sappy speech again?"

She thought for a moment. "No, I think I'll pass on the offer."

"Having fun, kids?" said Sirius. "'Cause breakfast is over and everyone left."

"WHAT?" cried Lily, and sure enough, there was no one there but her, James, and Sirius.

"C'mon, you'll be late for Hogsmeade," insisted Sirius, looking a little impatient.

"It's not like it'll affect anything, Padfoot," James pointed out. "We can always use our own way of getting there."

"You've got a point, Prongs." Both boys grinned at each other and walked off, leaving a very confused and angry Lily behind.

***

__

I wonder how I ever made it through the day

How did I settle for the world in shades of gray

When you go in circles on the sea it looks the same

And you don't know why and I looked into your eyes

And the world stretched out in front of me and I realized

Lily and James were slowly swaying to the music, along with many couples in the Great Hall, which was elaborately decorated, thanks to the Head Boy and Girl.

"I love this, James," whispered Lily, kissing his cheek. "Just being with you…"

"Yeah, I love it to," he whispered back.

__

I never lived before your love

I never felt before your touch

I never needed anyone to make me feel alive

But then again I wasn't really living

I never lived before your love

Lily pondered on those words. Yes, it was true. She never did live before James' love. His love for her made her feel special, like she was someone unique and worth living and dying for.

__

I wanted more than just an ordinary life

All of my dreams seemed like castles in the sky

I stand before you and my heart is in your hands

And I don't know how I survived without your kiss

Because you've given me a reason to exist

Everything was perfect for her. Just being with James and all her friends, and knowing that her family was safe and alive…it was all she needed. Who cared about being Head Girl? Who cared about striving to achieve her best in everything and winning the respect of her classmates? It was all a dream of her past, and her change of heart was all because of James.

__

I never lived before your love

I never felt before your touch

I never needed anyone to make me feel alive

But then again I wasn't really living

I never lived before your love

I never lived before your love 

James grinned and waved at Sirius and Arabella, who had passed him, dancing at a rather fast pace. Typical Sirius to rush when dancing with his girl of seven years. But Arabella didn't seem to mind. Remus and Jennifer were sitting at a table, sipping punch, and holding hands, while Jackson and Violet, neither very adept at dancing, played the games set up in booths. Yes, everything was perfect for that very moment.

__

And I don't know why,

Why the sun decides to shine

But you breathed your love into me just in time

He slowly leaned forward and captured Lily's lips with his own. It was like a magical moments, as sparks flew between them. They weren't aware that all the couples had stopped dancing to watch their moment together, smiles playing on everyone's lips as they deepened the kiss. After they pulled away, everyone started clapping and cheering.

__

I never lived before your love

I never felt before your touch

I never needed anyone to make me feel alive

But then again I wasn't really living

I never lived, I never lived before your love

The song ended, and Lily and James reluctantly pulled away from each other. It had been a magical night, and there was only one song left before the Halloween dance ended, but neither one of them felt like dancing. They seated themselves next to Remus and Jennifer, who were laughing at a joke that Sirius was telling them, while Arabella just smiled and shook her head.

"You guys looked wonderful out in the dance floor," said Sirius, as he saw his best friend. "Best couple out there. The little kids nearly wet their pants seeing you two dance, I believe."

Remus snorted and rolled his eyes, while Arabella and Jennifer burst into giggles. James grinned and rolled his eyes as well, while Lily sighed with an air of resignation.

"Lily? What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing." She smiled at him warmly. "It's just that this is too perfect to be true."

"Nah. You're too perfect to be true." James held her close to him.

"And you guys call Arabella and I bad," said Sirius.

"Oh, shut it, Padfoot! At least we don't snog at every hour of the day."

"Snog? Why that isn't _snogging_, Prongs! It's merely expressing our love for each other."

"Yeah, more like lust and desire."

"Take that back!"

"No!"

Arabella laughed. "Will you two ever grow up?"

"Not in a million years, Bella," replied Remus, eyeing his friends.

"James has grown up enough for me," interrupted Lily. "And I think he's perfect."

"You would." Jennifer scoffed. "He's your boyfriend, after all."

"Hey, guys," greeted Violet cordially, as she and Jackson strolled toward them.

"Hey, Vi," said Lily enthusiastically. "Having fun?"

"Oh, yeah, great fun. But I see that you're enjoying yourself the most with your James. And don't try denying it, Lily! You're going out with him now, so you can't say you don't love him."

Jackson eyed her carefully. "Since when have you been so social all of a sudden?"

Violet smiled secretively. "Oh, it's their fault." She pointed to the Marauders and girls. "They're the ones who brought me out of my shell." She kissed her boyfriend square on the lips, and grinned at his stunned expression. "C'mon, let's dance, Jack."

"Whoa, how did that happen out of thin air?" said Sirius, shocked.

Arabella looked at her friends. "Looks like Vi is finally out of her shell."

"Yes!" Jennifer punched her fist in the air triumphantly. "I knew it'd happen someday! It's all me, everyone!"

They all laughed at her ridiculous gestures.

"James?" whispered Lily, leaning closer to him.

"Yes, Lily?"

"This is a perfect moment and a perfect night." She sighed contentedly. "I'm glad I stopped being so darn stubborn and finally accepted the fact that I love you and that nothing can tear us apart."

Happiness surged through James' body again, as he gave her the shy smile that she loved so much. "I'm glad, too, Lily," he whispered.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything, except for the song lyrics. The song lyrics are in the song "Before Your Love" by Kelly Clarkson. 

A/N: Hehe – I hope I updated soon enough for your sake and patience! This chapter really did suck, though. I loved my last one, so I'm sorry if you hate this. Don't kill me, please! Oh, and sorry if this was a bit too mushy for you :P No flames, please!

Thank you to all my reviewers:

Princess Punky – Yep, they are FINALLY together! Took them a while, eh?

Franchesca – thank you!

James-Padfoot – no, sorry, not a Josh Groban fan. I just like the phrase, "Just joshing!", that's all :)

Agloechen – I'm glad you liked it!

Kady Rilla Wholi – Heh, glad you can endure my fluffiness! Oh yes, _A Tree Grows In Brooklyn_ is my God book, besides Harry Potter.

carol – thank you!

Brook – Aww…I feel so loved! LOL!

LynXkittY – Well, I don't really know what happens next…there's more fluff, they get married, and they die. Happy, huh? I know, I love sarcasm ;)

Erynwen – thanks!

X-Girl X-File – here's more! Hope you liked my chapter!

SilentMidnight – I'm glad you like it :)

Kat44 – Really? There's such a person as Jennifer Black? Well, I'll never get Sirius and Jennifer together, that's for sure :P Still…very interesting! Thanks for reviewing!

Alya – Well, I'm sorry if you don't like Lily's attitude in this story, but that's the way it is (or was). Because since Lily only started going out with James in their seventh year, then she must've still be stuck-up before. I just follow the rules of J.K. Rowling, that's all.

Phedre no Delauney de Montreve – Will do! Thanks for reviewing :D

__


	27. Seventh Year: Part Two

Seventh Year – Part Two

Lily blinked at her Transfiguration essay, which kept rambling on and on about absolutely nothing. Why she was so terrible at the subject was beyond her understanding. Sirius was right; she _was _even more terrible than Violet, who was considerably the worst in their class. Miraculously, she had achieved an "Outstanding" on her Transfiguration O.W.L., but Lily believed it to be pure luck.

James, on the other hand, was relaxing with Sirius near the fire. He was in a very good mood; Gryffindor was in the lead in Quidditch and first place in house points, and he was getting very high grades in every subject, including the dreaded Potions. So he stole a glance at his girlfriend, who, to his surprise, looked highly agitated and confused.

He strolled over to her and her pile of homework and books. "What's wrong, Lils?"

Lily looked at her boyfriend in despair. "Oh, James," she wailed. "I don't understand this section on animal-human transfiguration! It's so difficult!"

"I'll help you," he offered generously.

"Would you? Oh, thank you, James!" She rewarded him with a kiss on his cheek, which resulted in Sirius laughing loudly.

"Now, now, no public display of affection," scolded the latter.

James rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Padfoot. Now, it's really quite simple, Lily. First you…" And then he went on explaining about the transfiguration and how to master it precisely.

"Thanks, James; I do appreciate it," said Lily effusively. 

"I'll do your essay, too, if you want."

"No, that's all right." She looked confused. "That would be cheating, wouldn't it?"

He shrugged. "Hey, anything for my girl."

Lily smiled and kissed him gently. "I love you, James."

Even though he was very aware of the fact that Lily loved him, it made James' heart soar to hear those three words escape from her lips in the most unexpected times and places. He had a sudden urge to snog her right then and there, but knew that it would probably result in both of their badges taken away, and corruption of the younger students who were too young to witness such a passionate romantic desire.

"Hey, Prongs, no mushiness!" exclaimed Sirius, breaking their moment. Ah, well. At least James was saved from the possible resignation of his position as Head Boy.

"Shut up, Sirius," snapped Arabella from the other side of the room. "Don't you have any respect at all?"

"Let me think…no."

She let out a frustrated growl, which nearly frightened the younger Gryffindors to their deaths. 

"Lighten up, Arabella," said Jennifer sternly, as she crawled out of Remus' arms. 

"I know, but I actually want Lily and James' relationship to last." Arabella gave a cursory glance at the couple.

"Don't worry, it will," affirmed James, nodding emphatically. "I love Lily too much to even bicker with her."

"I won't argue with that," agreed Remus, now trying to capture an elusive Jennifer, who kept playing hide-and-seek with him.

"Er—hello, Lily," said a young girl shyly, whom Lily recognized at once as Laura Smith, one of the two Gryffindor prefects.

"Hey, Laura," she greeted cordially. "Can I help you with something?"

"I-I was wondering if you could maybe help me with something in Charms," she began, rather red in the face. "Everyone's told me that you're the best Charms student in the whole school."

Lily blushed. "Well, I wouldn't say that, but I'd be delighted to help you."

"Thank you." Laura beamed.

"James, I'll be right back. I'm going to help Laura with Charms."

"All right, Lils." James kissed her softly once more and went off to talk to Sirius, no doubt planning another prank against Snape.

After about fifteen minutes of Lily explaining the Silencing Charm patiently with Laura, the two girls had immediately found each other as kindred souls, and chatted and laughed like old friends.

"You have such a devoted boyfriend," said Laura wistfully. "I wish I had someone as sweet and clever as he. My sister told me that James Potter used to be the most wanted boy in the school besides Sirius Black."

Lily smiled inwardly; it felt good to be the object of envy for once in her life. "Don't worry, you'll find someone."

"I hope so. I'm a terribly hopeless romantic, so don't mind if I get a bit carried away about boys." She flushed.

"Oh, don't worry about it," assured Lily.

"I've always wanted a boyfriend who was sweet, clever, kind, and loyal," said Laura dreamily. "Someone with integrity, whom you can trust for all your life, and also with bravery, who would stand up for what he believed in no matter what the consequences."

"That's very powerful," said Lily softly.

"Yes. I know it's a lot to expect, but I am rather particular with boys. Many have asked me out the past years, but none fit my descriptions. I know I'm probably being selfish, but maybe one day I'll find my mate, huh?"

"You know, Laura, I think you will. You were a lot like me when I was your age, and look at me now! Girlfriend of the famous James Potter, and Head Girl along with him as well."

Laura laughed. "But you know, I like being single. There's no worrying about spending a lot of time with your boyfriend, and I can concentrate more on my studies. After all, my O.W.L.s are this year, and I want to become an Auror when I grow older, since the threat of You-Know-Who is rising."

"All this rubbish about 'You-Know-Who'! It's _Voldemort_, and there's nothing scary about saying his name."

Everyone in the common room stopped what they were doing and stared at Lily in awe and reverence. Whoever was brave enough to say Voldemort's name nowadays were considered heroes.

"You said his name!" exclaimed Laura in a hushed voice. "But he could be anywhere!"

"Look, if you want to become an Auror, than you have to say his name," said James, edging closer to the girls.

Lily smiled at James. "Exactly."

"I feel so cowardly then," sighed Laura, her eyes downcast. "Me, scared of a name…I'm no Gryffindor."

"Of course you are. You weren't Sorted here for no reason."

"Lily…" whined James, pouting.

She glared at him. "_What_, James?"

"You aren't paying any attention to me. Hey, Laura, d'you mind if I borrow my girlfriend from you?"

Laura giggled and shook her head. "No, go ahead."

"Laura! You're leaving me with this buffoon!"

"Hey! I may be a buffoon, but I'm your buffoon!"

Lily laughed along with Laura. "Oh, very well, then. Bye, Laura!"

"Bye, Lily."

She turned to James. "Did you have to interrupt like that?"

"Only if I can be with my girl more, yes."

Lily sighed. "You really know how to get a girl, Potter."

"I know. You're the perfect one for me. I do have good taste, after all." James kissed her forehead lightly. "I love you."

__

"Hem, hem." 

They both turned around to see Kenneth Hughes grinning at them like crazy, his light brown curls tumbled wildly around his head, which made his hair looked oddly like James'.

"Hello," said James pleasantly.

"Potter." He nodded curtly. "Evans."

"Can we help you?"

"Yes, actually. Er—you know, it's Emmeline's birthday soon—March eighth—and I need to get her a birthday present. Do you have any ideas?" He looked pleadingly at them.

"Jewelry?" suggested Lily, after a while of thought.

"She has to much of those beady things."

"Cosmetics?" said James, making a face. Obviously, Kenneth didn't agree either, for he made a disgusted face as well.

"I know!" cried Lily triumphantly. "A nice book, preferably a novel. I always love getting those."

The two boys turned to look at her incredulously, their eyebrows raised.

"What?" she said defensively. "I do!"

"Emmeline's more of a girl," explained Kenneth. "You know, like one of those giggly girls that always pass us fellows in the hallways and stare like fish."

James smiled. "How about a locket? I saw some really pretty ones in that little shop next to Madam Puddifoot's."

"That's perfect! Thanks, James." The younger boy shook his hand with ebullience and ran frenetically out of the common room, nearly sending the Fat Lady off her hinges.

"Does he really like her that much?" said Lily discreditably.

"Probably. Our hormones are still in work, you know."

"That's true."

James yawned and lay down on his back. "I'm so bored. There's nothing to do."

"We can study for our Charms quiz," offered Lily.

"No, I know that rubbish already."

"Look over Potions notes?"

"Nah, I already know how to brew the Draught of Living Death."

"Practice transfiguring a desk into a pig?"

"No way, that's too simple. C'mon, Lily, no studying please. Tell me something nice."

"We can go to the kitchens," she said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Been there too many times."

"JAMES! You're not helping."

"Sorry, Lily, but everything's too boring."

"I'll make it less boring." And with that said, Lily kissed James square on the lips, which made him bolt upright in surprise.

"Whoa, am I interrupting something?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"No, Padfoot, just a snog session with my girlfriend," said James, grinning at Lily teasingly.

"A ha! I knew I'd catch you two doing something like that. Oh, and Prongs, just to let you know, I'll be moving out of your house by this summer. My uncle Alphard gave me a bit of gold to at least get a place of my own. Dear old Mum probably blasted him off the tapestry, too. Anyone associated with me gets off the dear family three." He laughed bitterly.

"All right…" James looked rather taken aback at Sirius' sudden announcement. 

"Don't worry, Prongs, I'll still visit you."

"But Sirius"—Sirius immediately tensed, as whenever the Marauders used their first names, it was meant to be serious (no pun intended)—"shouldn't you visit your family before you get your own place? You know, just to let them know how you're doing."

"Nothing would make me do that, Prongs. My family doesn't give a damn about me, since they think I'm a blood traitor because I'm mingling with other blood traitors like the Potters."

"We're a very respectable family," said James, his voice sounding stiff and superior all of a sudden.

"Yeah, don't worry about that; Mum's just jealous."

"Sirius," said Lily, "is it true that your brother's a Death Eater?"

His face darkened. "I've heard such, but I don't know if it's true. Mum and Dad are always saying that Voldemort's got the right idea about getting rid of Muggles and Muggle-borns, but I'm sure that they're not aware of _how _he's getting rid of them. They don't read the _Daily Prophet_."

"Anyone up for some Quidditch?" said James, trying to lighten up the mood.

"James, we just had practice yesterday," said Sirius, exasperated.

"So? This is our last year at Hogwarts, Padfoot. I want to win that Cup!"

"Prongs, we've won it ever since we joined the team in our second year. After all, who could beat a team with Potter and Black in it?"

Lily laughed, as did James. Sirius was always one to cheer up everyone and brighten gloomy moods.

"Hey, Moony," said Sirius, his voice lower, "when's the full moon?"

"It was last week, Sirius," said Remus, looking at his friend critically. 

"Oh, I was afraid you'd say that. I'm so **bored**."

"Well, don't go hexing Snape, now, or Lily would have a fit like last time."

"Who cares? I want to hex Snivelly, Prongs. You coming?"

"No, Padfoot, I think I'll stay here."

"Aww…c'mon, Prongs, be a sport! You said you were bored, too."

"I know, but that's no reason to hex Snivellus just because we're bored."

"That's right," encouraged Lily, nodding her head, "listen to James, Sirius. Or rather, Padfoot." She grinned wickedly.

"Actually, I don't think it's a good idea," said Sirius hastily, noticing Lily's look. "Up for a game of chess, Bellsies?"

"Wow, you are evil, Lils," said James, impressed. "I've never seen Sirius so frightened in his life."

"Yes, I am, aren't I?" Lily smiled and leaned against James.

"You know, you've really loosened up throughout these past years."

"Really?" She straightened herself up. "Explain, please."

"I mean, you used to be such a bossy, know-it-all in our first year." He grinned and ducked a swat that was aimed at him. "You were just like that Hermione."

"For your information, Hermione is a very nice girl and very sensible, unlike that son of yours…"

"He's yours, too."

"Unfortunately. I can see that he has his father's knack of getting into trouble too often."

"Damn straight!"

"James Potter, how many times have I told you to refrain from using such crude language? Swearing does not benefit you in any way."

"Lily, you shouldn't be worrying about crude language, when Voldemort is taking over. We have to put aside those paltry things that we used to worry about and focus on the more important things."

"Yes." Lily looked away, feeling ashamed of herself. "Yes, you're right, of course."

James sighed and looked out of the window, where the grounds were still covered with a thin layer of snow. He was extremely worried about Voldemort's reign of power. He was slowly gathering more followers each day, and he knew that nearly half of them were Sirius' relatives, who've always supported Voldemort's ideas about purebloods taking over. And his parents, who were one of the most elite Aurors in the Ministry, were nearly working overtime each day. They've written very few letters to him recently, and James didn't blame them one bit, for he knew that they were too busy investigating Voldemort's victims and where he would strike next.

Lily looked over at her boyfriend, worried. She knew that James' parents were one of the targets of Voldemort, because they had a high position in the Ministry as one of the top Aurors. If something ever happened to Mr. and Mrs. Potter, James would be heartbroken for sure. And yet, her family was in danger as well. She was well acquainted with Voldemort, meeting him on three various occasions, and narrowly escaping him along with James. Because of that, and also because of the fact that she was Muggle-born, she and her family were targets as well.

They both knew that they were in grave danger, but felt safer in each other's arms just then.

***

Lily was sweating all over, but she beamed as her desk transfigured into an otter easily. She had passed the test with an "O", and Professor McGonagall had even given her one of her rare smiles.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Ms. Evans," she said, with a tight-lipped smile.

James, of course, had easily done the transfiguration, since his wand was very powerful and especially adept at the subject.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall, but she did not offer him a smile, for she was too used to him getting everything correct.

"Thank you, Professor," said James, nodding.

Professor McGonagall blinked. "Excuse me, Mr. Potter? I believe I did not hear you correctly. Did you just _thank _me?"

"Well, yes," said James, nonplussed. "After all, you did award Gryffindor ten points."

"Is this some kind of prank, Potter?"

"No, Professor." James frowned. 

"All right, then. Well, you're welcome, then, Potter." However, McGonagall still looked apprehensive and stared at her classroom, as if waiting for something to happen. But nothing did.

Then the bell rang, and everyone exited the room, while Professor McGonagall still looked extremely surprised at the thought of James Potter thanking her.

"Why did you thank Professor McGonagall?" asked Lily curiously. "You never thank anyone."

"Is it a crime to start being polite?" said James, annoyed. 

"Well, no," admitted Sirius, "what she meant was that you surprised everyone."

James shrugged. "It's not too much. After all, with Voldemort gathering so many followers, everything we used to think was big is now inconsequential."

"True," concurred Remus. "You know, you're quite right, Prongs. I'm glad you've finally grown up."

"Oh, that's rich," he returned sarcastically. "You mean I've been immature all my life?"

"Yes," they all chorused.

"James, will you go out with me?" asked a Ravenclaw seventh-year, smiling at him shyly.

"Sorry, I already have a steady girlfriend," said James. "Surely you knew that."

"Oh, right." Her face fell. "Lily Evans. Sorry I asked." The Ravenclaw went away without another word.

"Well, you're quite popular with the ladies still, Prongs," said Sirius, nodding approvingly. "Even though you're now attached, they still want you."

"Which is not something to be proud of," added Lily, her green eyes flashing with jealousy.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you," reassured James.

"There goes Snivellus," said Sirius, his eyes following Snape and his gang's every move. "Can we just hex him _once_, Prongs?"

James' eyes traveled to the black-haired boy, who was now staring at them, waiting for him to hex him. "No, Sirius," he said in a final tone. 

"Prongs, you're no fun anymore." His face fell.

"Grow up, Sirius," said Arabella angrily. "Haven't you realized it already? Life is not about hexing Snape until he becomes stripped of all his clothing. With Voldemort on the rise, I thought that you'd have some sense like James."

"It's 'James this' and 'James that'!" exclaimed Sirius furiously. "Why does everything revolve around Potter? It's always 'James is the best' or 'James is so cute', but never 'Sirius always does the right thing'. Well, excuse me for not playing the hero like he does! He saved Snivellus that night of the full moon from Remus, and now he's setting an example for everyone. What about _me, _James…our friendship? What has it become?"

Everyone grew silent after Sirius' outburst, and even the Slytherins stopped to listen. James felt extremely guilty. It was true that everyone looked up at him, but did Sirius have to be so selfish? However, he knew that he had lost this time, for something in his and Sirius' friendship was lost, and would never be recovered again. He had been neglecting his best friend, and spending more time with Lily or the prefects. He was so busy that he had forgotten all about Sirius, who was always there for him.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. "You're right, Sirius; I have been ignoring you lately. I'm sorry, Lils"—he turned to his girlfriend—"but I need to spend more time with my best friend now."

Lily nodded. "Of course, James."

James walked to Gryffindor Tower with Sirius at his heels. He said the password, and went straight up to his dormitory without another word. When he flopped on his bed and pulled something out, Sirius began to speak.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened out there—"

"No." James cut him off. "You're right. I have been ignoring you, and that's a terrible sin. We've been best friends since forever, and I want to spend some time with you. Really."

Sirius broke into a grin. "Thanks, Prongs."

"Anytime, Padfoot. Hey, look what I got out!" 

"Our Marauder album!" exclaimed Sirius in delight. "We haven't added to it in ages. You know, Moony and Wormtail should be here, too."

"I know, but I just want to spend time with you, only. Moony and Wormtail are my friends too, but you're my best friend."

James got out the album, and he and Sirius were flipping through it, laughing, crying, or plain smiling. It consisted of pictures, notes, and any other random item that related to their adventures at Hogwarts. Their favorite one was the one taken by the lake in their first year. A small James was seated on a rock, and Remus and Peter were next to him. Little Sirius had his arms around the three of them, and they were all laughing at his antics. Yes, those were the times…but the happy days were now long gone forever.

"I miss those days," said Sirius softly. "Where we were all carefree and happy. But heck, I'd rather have you and Lily together than fighting like children."

James smiled. "Yeah. I do miss those days, too. There was no Voldemort, no chaos in the Ministry…"

"It was almost like an utopia."

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. We've got each other, and that's all that matters."

Sirius grinned. "You sound so cliché, Prongs."

"So what if I do? The girls love a man who says these overly-romantic things."

"Glad to have the old Prongs back, too."

James grabbed his best friend and gave him a fierce embrace.

"Whoa, now we're doing the hugging thing?"

He laughed. "Nah. I'm just happy that you're my friend, Padfoot."

Sirius hugged him back. "I'm glad too, Prongs. And even though we love our women"—James snorted loudly—"we'll always be best friends and never even let girls or Voldemort get into our way. Right?"

James was too surprised to speak. "I do believe that's the most intelligent thing you've ever said in our life, Padfoot."

"Aww…shut up!"

They both laughed, sealing their friendship tighter than ever.

***

"I'd like to thank you two for planning my birthday party," said Emmeline, beaming with happiness.

"Well, it was all Kenneth's idea," said Lily modestly.

Emmeline gasped, and hugged her boyfriend tightly, while everyone, even Regulus, cheered loudly.

Lily smiled as James put his arm around her. "Settle down, now. Let's get started on business, shall we?" 

"About what?" interjected Regulus rather rudely.

James closed his eyes and stiffened visibly, trying to assuage the urge to slap the younger Black. "Five points from Slytherin, Mr. Black."

"What?" cried the young Black angrily. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, I have just as much power as the teachers to, Black. You're not one to talk about unfairness; Hurst docks off points from Gryffindor even when we breathe."

"As he should." Regulus sneered. "You Gryffindors pollute the air by breathing. You always take away oxygen that **we** should have."

"Stuff it," muttered James viciously. "Anyway, back to business. Now, for those staying here in the Easter holidays, you will be enjoying a feast for the first time at Hogwarts in many years."

"Why?" asked Brett Fawcett, the other Ravenclaw prefect.

"Well—er—Dumbledore didn't explain any details, but I think he wanted us to enjoy life here before Voldemort takes over."

There were audible gasps all around the room, and James rolled his eyes at Lily.

"Surely you're not afraid of speaking his name, are you?"

"You said the Dark Lord's name," stammered Regulus, too stunned to make a comeback.

James shrugged. "So I did. What's the big deal? It's just a name."

"But _he _might hear you any time," said Emmeline in the same hushed voice as Laura had used.

"Ha! He's not that powerful."

"My father," said Irwin Macmillan in a bombast tone, "said that he knew Legilimency."

"I hear he does, too," conceded James, "but that doesn't mean he can hear everything. 'Sides, there are ways to block a Legilimens, such as Occlumency."

"Do you know it then?"

"Unfortunately, no, but I'm sure I can learn it."

"Your parents were in the _Prophet_ last week," said Joanne Lawrence, a Hufflepuff. "They praised them very well."

"Yeah, I was thinking of becoming an Auror, too," said James casually.

"That's dangerous!" gasped Emmeline, her eyes widening.

"Yes, it is, but I still want to do it," said James obdurately. "Now, as I was saying—"

"You might get killed," said Lurietta Marcelo, a Slytherin, though she hardly sounded disappointed. 

"I know. Now, back to the Easter—"

"You wouldn't care," shot back Laura, who looked completely livid. "Dad's told me that your family are all supporters of the Dark Arts and You-Know-Who!"

"Ha! What would you know, you filthy half-Mudblood?"

"How dare you!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I ought to—"

"Oh, shut UP!" roared James, and with a flick of his wand, Lurietta had promptly stopped talking, though her mouth was still moving furiously.

"Very nice, James," lauded Lily, fighting back the urge to laugh. "But we are at a prefect meeting, and you should be taking it off, as admirable as it is."

"Right." James turned pink and took the charm off.

"You'll pay for that, Potter!" exclaimed Lurietta furiously. 

"Twenty points from Slytherin, Marcelo," snapped James, "for such abominable name-calling, like Mr. Black, and for insulting the Head Boy and one of your fellow prefects."

"You're abusing your position as Head Boy!" cried Regulus in a rage. "It isn't fair."

"Oh, it is, Mr. Black," said Lily coolly. "Insulting the heads and a fellow prefect does not have light consequences. I think that Mr. Potter is doing his part quite sufficiently."

"_You'd_ think," spat Regulus, "'cause you're his girlfriend."

"I am perfect impartial and objective toward the prefects, Mr. Black, so I kindly refrain you from saying further."

The rest of the meeting went smoothly, and to no one's surprise, Regulus and Lurietta remained quiet and sullen the whole time.

"Well, that was interesting," commented Lily, as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower. 

"These Slytherins are getting worse and worse," groaned James. "Couldn't Dumbledore just not put any of them as prefects? They're evil, all of them!"

"Not necessarily. There can be some good person who is in Slytherin because they are very ambitious. Being in Slytherin does not make you evil, James."

"Yeah, but if you _were _evil, you'd be a Slytherin. Quite simple."

Lily sighed, shaking her head. "Sometimes I wonder about you, James Potter."

"You know you love me, Lily, so there's no need," said James smugly.

"Whatever."

"Hey, Lily, James!" 

They both turned around to see Joanne Lawrence running toward them, her face rather pink and her hair out of her usual ponytail.

"Er—hello," said James, surprised.

"I just wanted to tell you two that you're one of the bravest people I know," she said breathlessly.

"Thank you," said Lily, rather taken aback. "I'm quite surprised."

"As I am, as well," added James.

Joanne blushed. "Well, you see, I've always been cowardly and insignificant…the Sorting Hat said so…and I've always admired Gryffindors for their courage and sacrifice. I mean, look at you two! Destined to become great Aurors and fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Names! While, I, Joanne Lawrence, can't even say You-Know-Who's name."

"Being a Gryffindor doesn't mean you're brave," corrected James. "I mean, look at me. I don't think I qualify as a 'brave' person; I'm just reckless and do things without much apparent thought. It's just like being a Ravenclaw doesn't make you all brainy, or being a Hufflepuff makes you stupid and an outcast. I mean, even if you were a Slytherin, you wouldn't be necessarily evil! It all comes down to who you really are inside."

Lily, who had been extremely surprised at Joanne's comment before, nearly fell down in shock at James'. Never had he talked so philosophically and wisely as he did at that very moment and it shocked Lily tremendously. James Potter, philosophy, and wise were three words that never mixed together into one sentence. When one thought of "wise", they thought of Albus Dumbledore, and when one thought of "philosophy", they thought of Nicholas Flamel (or so the people who knew him did). But when one thought of "reckless" and "egotistical", that was when they thought of James Potter (or Sirius Black, for the matter). However, Lily thought wrong, for James could be equally clever and wise when he wanted or needed to be, and she was frankly astonished that he even used one of her own philosophies into his own when she had thought he never listened to her.

"Thank you, James!" exclaimed Joanne, flustered and pleased. "I feel much better now."

"I'll escort you back to your common room, Joanne," he offered kindly.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want you to spend less time with Lily," she said, a hint of a grin playing on her lips. "Good-bye, then!" And with that said, she raced off to another direction of the castle, back to her common room, no doubt.

"You never cease to amaze me, Potter," said Lily, shaking her head, but smiling.

"I know; that's why you love me, right?"

Lily thought for a moment. Why did she love James? Well, for one thing, he was now extremely modest and humble. He was also funny, kind, and very clever. It was then that she realized that James was everything she'd ever wanted in a boy, and that she finally found her dream man. The small smile that was tugging at her lips became a full-fledged one, as she sighed contentedly, and crushed her boyfriend in a warm and welcoming hug.

James was rather surprised at the sudden hug that came out of the blue, but he dismissed it probably as one of Lily's hodgepodge thoughts again. But then, that was why he loved her, wasn't it? She was unique, one of a kind.

So when their faithful friends, who had been waiting patiently for them to come back to Gryffindor Tower, went off to search for them, that was where they found them: hugging, seeking the comfort of each other.

"How terribly romantic," commented Violet, her dark eyes acquiring a dreamy look.

"Oh, brother," moaned Jennifer. "Stop it already, Vi! I'll squash the romance out of you if it's the last thing I do."

"Now, now, I don't think I'd do that if I were you, Jenny," whispered Remus, pulling his girlfriend closer to him. "If there wasn't any love or romance in this world, how could we survive?"

"I suppose you're right," sighed Jennifer.

"Sh!" hissed Arabella, her gray eyes turning toward the hugging couple again. "You'll ruin the moment. Here—Sirius, get me your camera!"

__

"Accio camera," whispered Sirius, and his camera flew into his hands in an instant.

Arabella grabbed it eagerly, and took quick snapshots of the still hugging couple. "These will develop once when put them in the potion," she said, looking pleased. 

Indeed, there was a reason for her to be pleased. For the picture expressed many different type of emotions: love, pain, misunderstandings, and blindness. It expressed all the obstacles that Lily and James went through, until they finally found love and comfort in each other.

***

"Arabella, how could you?" cried Lily, anguished, as she stared at the photo of her and James hugging in a corridor. 

"I thought you'd be pleased," argued Arabella, rather puzzled. "I mean, it'd be a great memoir when you look back at it when you're a fifty-year-old woman."

"If I even live that long," she retorted.

"Oh…right. Well, then, give it to Harry when he's old enough."

"ARABELLA!"

"All right, then! But seriously, though, it was rather romantic when we saw it the other day. I mean, it expressed so much."

"That may be so, but you had no right to take a picture of a private moment! We could've been snogging, for all you'd know!"

"Or de-clothing each other," added Arabella, grinning wickedly at the thought.

Lily was aghast. "Oh, you have such a dirty mind."

"Don't you know it. I think Sirius influenced me, however."

"Yeah. I'll be surprised if you guys haven't even de-clothed yourselves already."

"You know I'd never!" exclaimed Arabella, her eyes widening. "Why, Sirius has more integrity than _that_. And you call me with a dirty mind."

"Oy! Bellsies, I've got the—oh, hello, Lily." Sirius stopped in mid-sentence as he spotted his girlfriend's best friend. "Have you talked it over with her yet?" he whispered to Arabella.

"Yes, but she doesn't agree," she whispered back.

Sirius groaned softly, but immediately regained composure as he thought of a plan. "Hey, Lily, you love Jamsies, is that right?"

"Yes…" Lily stared at him suspiciously.

"So you wouldn't mind if we took a picture of you guys…by accident, of course," he added hastily.

"Oh, Merlin! Just forget about all this, and you guys can distribute the picture; I could care less anymore. C'mon, let's see it."

Sirius handed the picture to Lily meekly. Lily took one look at the picture and flushed brightly. Even though her best friends still didn't have permission to interfere with such privacy, she had to admit that it was very romantic all the same, if it was taken by illegal means.

"It's decent," she said, nodding.

"Excellent!" Sirius beamed, and Arabella grinned.

"Don't show it to James just yet, though. He'll throw a bigger fit than I did."

"We won't," reassured Arabella, still smiling.

They, of course, did show it to James, courtesy of Sirius. After all, when had they actually listened to Lily? Of course, they should have, as Lily was right again.

"SIRIUS BLACK, HOW COULD YOU? THAT WAS MEANT TO BE A PRIVATE MOMENT!" roared James, staring at the photo.

"It was Arabella's idea," his best friend said in a small voice.

"But it was your camera," accused James angrily.

"We're sorry, Prongs," said Remus with equanimity. "We didn't realize you could be so disagreeable about it."

"What? I am _not_." However, James knew that he easily lost the argument, for he could never have Remus' cool sense of logic.

"Of course you are. It's just a stupid photo. It's not like we interrupted a snog or a, shall we say, an extremely private moment. You may dispose of it if you wish."

James opened his mouth, about to say that he wanted to get rid of it at once, no doubt, but clamped it shut almost at once. "You may keep it, if you want."

"Thanks, Prongs! I knew you'd come by sooner or later." Sirius grinned and pocketed the picture carefully, not knowing that that one picture would change the life of a boy living twenty years later into the future.

"Does Lily know about this?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Bella told her first, and she told us not to tell you just yet, since Lily was afraid you might blow a casket—which you did, by the way. So, my point is—"

"Shut up, Padfoot," said Remus wearily. "You don't have a point. Stop rambling."

"I love you too, Moony."

"WHAT?"

"I was joking!"

"Well, you'd better be!"

"Oh, shut it, the both of you," grumbled James. "Now, where's my copy?"

"Of what?"

"Of the photo, Padfoot! Surely you don't think I can pass the opportunity, can you?"

Sirius glanced at his best mate in surprise. "Er—sure."

James went down to the common room, and sank into a chair, and closed his eyes.

"James?"

He opened his eyes and blinked. "Hey, Lils."

"What are you doing here?"

"Just thinking."

"About…?"

"About how lucky I am to have a girl like you."

Lily smiled inwardly, though she tried her best to frown. "You know you can't sweet-talk me forever, Potter."

"I know. But I also know that I can try."

"You're sweet." Lily cuddled next to James, and buried her face in his chest.

He chuckled lightly. "Again, I try to make everything possible for you, Lily."

__

Feels like I'm standing in a timeless dream

Of light mists of pale amber rose

Feels like I'm lost in a deep cloud of heavenly scent

Touching, discovering you

__

Those days of warm rains come rushing back to me

Miles of windless summer night air

Secret moments shared in the heat of the afternoon

Out of the stillness soft-spoken words

__

Say, say it again

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

__

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

__

You've got the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen

You've got me almost melting away

As we lay there under a blue sky with pure white stars

Exotic sweetness a magical time

__

Say, say it again

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

__

Say you'll love, love me forever

Never stop never whatever

Near and far and always and everywhere and every

Say you'll love, love me forever

Never stop never whatever

Near and far and always and everywhere and every

Say you'll love, love me forever

Never stop never whatever

Near and far and always and everywhere and every

Say you'll love, love me forever

Never stop never whatever

Near and far and always and everywhere and everything

__

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

I love you always forever

Near and far closer together

Everywhere I will be with you

Everything I will do for you

James loved Lily, and Lily loved James. It was like a match made right down in heaven, with a dark-haired boy and a bright redhead girl making love right below the sky. Whenever they touched each other, it was like magic. All emotions sparked between them, almost tangible enough for people to actually see. It was like everyone said: they were always meant to be.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters, I own the plot (which will never be as good as hers), and Donna Lewis owns the lyrics to her song, "I Love You Always Forever".

A/N: OMG, I took forever on this chapter! And it may be the last chapter up before school starts *tear* Oh, and this really sucked, too. Their seventh year won't have anything really exciting (I mean, come on, they've gotten together already!), just some major fluff. So if you don't like fluff (which I hope you do), then don't kill me for writing a lot of it. Turn away if you have to! And please don't ask why I even chose to add Donna Lewis' lyrics into my song (I know "Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden would've been more fitting, but hey, no one's perfect). I think I was just being weird.

Thank you to my reviewers:

Kady Rilla Wholi – Whoa, so many questions! *smile* Now, let's see…yes, it is the same Emmeline Vance from the Order, no, I cannot kill Regulus, though I really want to, yes, I will go up to graduation as well as their deaths, and I have no idea when they'll get married or have Harry. I think that's all of it :P Thanks for reviewing!

James-Padfoot – Hehe, yeah, I absolutely love L/J fics! It's my number one ship :D

Phedre no Delauney de Montreve – Of course I will email you when the next chapter is ready. And for anyone else who'd like that as well, please tell me!

SilentMidnight – Well, what can I say? I love fluff! Yes, hopefully, I can update soon.

Kat44 – You know, I actually think that J.K. Rowling gets a lot of her names from constellations and stars…you know, with Sirius, Andromeda, etc. And yes, I like Kelly Clarkson, too!

Erynwen – Glad you can endure my fluff! ;)

alya – I'm glad they're going out as well :)

Brook – Yeah…hopefully I can make it all happy before everything starts to fall apart for poor Lily and James.

X-Girl X-File – Yeah, I always think that everyone else's L/J stories are just WRONG. I mean, they make Lily so OOC, and James too cocky and mean. Oh well :P Thanx for reviewing!

Catherine – Thanks!

Agloechen – Thank you! I'll update ASAP :)

Fabiana – Thank you for reviewing!

littocherryblossom – Well, I loved the fifth HP book, but the ending was so sad anyway! Thanks for reviewing!

Hermione101888 – Yeah, I was getting a little annoyed at James' behavior, LOL. Gracias for your kind comments :D

howdyfolks23 – I will! Thanks!

Aurora – Thank you :) 


	28. Seventh Year: Part Three

Seventh Year – Part Three

Alice squealed loudly. "You're proposing at the end of the year?"

"Sh!" hissed James, looking around furtively. "Al, I don't want Lily to hear."

"Oh, sorry. But are you? Oh, Merlin, that's fantastic!"

Sirius made a coughing sound, glaring at the young woman before him.

"Sorry, Sirius, I forgot you were proposing, too."

"You are?" asked James, astonished. "Arabella?"

"Well, who else?"

Alice smiled. She had just come for a visit to Hogwarts with her fiancé, Frank, and found Lily and James as a blossoming couple madly in love, much to her surprise, since the last time she saw them, they had been arguing as usual. 

Frank suddenly appeared next to them, grinning. "What're you talking about?"

"Proposing," said Sirius briefly. "Care to join?"

"Proposing?" repeated Frank, as his eyes widened in recognition. "You're proposing already?"

"At the end of the year," elaborated James. "We're not too young, are we? After all, you guys are only nineteen yourselves."

"True," said Alice absently, "but we've already got everything settled. No, I don't think you two are young at all, though I do have second thoughts about you, Sirius. However, isn't Remus proposing?"

James' light-hearted expression darkened. "No. He wants to break up with her at the end of the year."

"What?" Frank was flabbergasted. "Why?"

Sirius was about to give them a full-blown explanation of Remus' "condition", but luckily, James had nudged his best mate sharply in the ribs and gave him an accusing look. Sirius shut up at once.

"He doesn't think it's working out properly," the latter lied fluently. "They—er—aren't as affectionate as before."

"They looked fine to me," said Alice, puzzled. "I saw them cuddling in the Great Hall when we first got here."

"Oh, that's just a façade," said James with cursory. "You see, Remus still wants to keep a good image of the perfect couple like before."

"All right, then." The couple still looked doubtfully at the two boys, but said no more.

"How's Head Boy duties?" queried Frank, after moments of silence had passed.

"Fair," replied James, sighing at the thought. "There's this really evil git, Regul—" He stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that Sirius was standing right next to him. "I mean, some of the prefects are rude and obnoxious."

"You were going to say something about my brother," said Sirius knowingly. "Don't lie, Prongs. But don't worry. I don't care if you curse my brother with all the curse words in the world."

James laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah. And there are some really cool people, too. Like Kenneth, Laura, Emmeline…"

"Emmeline Vance?" interrupted Frank, looking at Alice. "Isn't she one of the recruits for the Order of—"

Alice made a hushing noise and placed her hand on Frank's mouth. "Frank Longbottom!" she whispered fiercely. 

"Oh, never mind," said Frank nervously.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Are you two hiding something?"

"No," they both replied at once.

"Alice!" exclaimed Lily. "What are you doing out here with those idiots? Come on, Dumbledore's announcing you two soon!"

Frank and Alice followed the seventeen-year-olds back into the Great Hall, where everyone was waiting patiently. The two ex-heads seated themselves at the High Table, while James, Sirius, and Lily went back to the Gryffindor table.

"Students and staff, I would like to re-introduce to you Frank Longbottom and Alice Hart, who were the Head Boy and Girl here at Hogwarts last year."

Everyone clapped politely, but those who knew the couple personally, including the Marauders and girls, clapped and cheered loudly at this announcement, while Frank and Alice blushed at all the attention.

"Why are they here?" asked a Ravenclaw curiously.

"Ah, they are here by orders from me, Mr. Fawcett. You may continue eating."

After breakfast was over, everyone went immediately either back to their common rooms or in the library, for exams were coming up for everyone, especially the dreaded O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s for fifth and seventh years, respectively. 

"What if I do horribly?" said Lily fretfully, as they headed back to the common room. "Then I won't get to be an Auror, and will have to live my life doing nothing."

"Lily, you're worrying over nothing," assured James, rolling his eyes. "You're a perfect student; there's no need to be so anxious about the N.E.W.T.s."

"Hear, hear," intoned Alice, grinning. "Your boyfriend is right, Lily; don't even bother to study. You got the highest amount of O.W.L.s, didn't you?"

"Are you guys Aurors-in-training?" asked James eagerly. 

"Well, we aren't Aurors _yet_," corrected Frank, as he slipped an arm around his young fiancée. "We've still got two more years of training. It isn't too hard, I admit, but some of the stuff is difficult, like Stealth and Tracking. Nearly failed it, I did."

"I got top marks on that," said Alice pompously, sticking her tongue out purposefully at her soon-to-be husband.

Frank snorted. "Yeah, but you failed Concealment and Disguise, in which _I _got top marks on there."

"Do all engaged couples argue like you two?" said Lily, rubbing her forehead gingerly. 

Frank and Alice both blushed bright red, and smiled guiltily. "We don't argue; we just—er—like to tease each other a bit."

"Like us," added James.

Lily laughed, as James slipped his arm around her waist and brought her close to him. 

"You two are so sweet together," said Alice, looking rather tearful. "The last time we saw you, you were still arguing like third-years."

"So, your wedding is in a few weeks, huh?" said James, changing the subject abruptly.

"Yes, we wanted to discuss that with you," said Alice, shifting her foot. "I—we—were wondering if you will be our best man and Lily be our maid-of-honor."

Lily's eyes widened. "But I don't even know you guys too well!"

"True, that we haven't known each other for a long time, but I think that you deserve it, Lily, since you've been a great friend. And James has been friends with Frank since they were kids."

"What about Sturges and Juan?" queried James, looking at Frank.

"Oh, they're to be ushers," said Frank casually. "You've been the real friend, James."

"Of course we'll accept," they chorused together, beaming.

"Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet will be my bridesmaids," said Alice dreamily. "And Sirius, Remus, and Peter will be ushers, too, I suppose, since I don't want them to feel left out."

"You've already got all this planned?" said James, astonished.

"Obviously." Alice raised an eyebrow.

"When are you two planning your wedding?" teased Frank, winking.

Lily immediately turned pink. "We aren't getting married—"

"—yet," finished James, grinning at Frank and Alice.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Are you hiding something?"

"Maybe."

Truthfully, James was terrified at the prospect of proposing to Lily. What was he to say? What kind of ring would suit Lily the most? And most importantly, _what knee was he supposed to get down on?_ He knew he was just being ridiculous, but he really wanted the proposal to be perfect. He had already settled on proposing at King's Cross, as unromantic as it seemed. And he was thinking of getting Lily a diamond ring, but remembered just then that she wasn't too fond of diamonds, them only having a dull whitish color. So he settled on perhaps getting her an emerald one to match her green eyes.

However, what would Lily say once he proposed? If she said "yes", then all his worries would be gone…but what if she said "no"? What if she said the only reason why she even bothered dating him was to prevent him from asking her out a million times more? All these thoughts became a jumble of mixed thoughts in his head, as he only half-heartedly to his friends' conversations.

"James, I'm talking to you; can you hear me?" 

He blinked, and saw Lily's pale hand waving in front of his face. "What?"

"Are you all right?" She looked genuinely concerned.

"Do you love me?" he asked suddenly.

"You know I do, James," said Lily earnestly. "I love you with all my heart, because you're funny, kind, unselfish, and clever. What more would I want out of a boyfriend?"

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course." Lily grasped his hand tightly, and her green eyes shined down on him. "Now, come on, then, everyone's waiting inside the common room. I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes."

James found himself being dragged by the redhead and into the common room, where everyone indeed was settled in and waiting impatiently.

"Where were you, Prongs?" said Sirius, looking rather put off.

"Outside," he returned vaguely. "What're you all doing here?"

"We're talking with Frank and Alice," said Jennifer slowly. "What's wrong with you, James? Are you sick?"

"N-no, I'm fine, thank you."

"Head Boy duties, probably," said Sirius sympathetically, and when his eyes met James', the latter knew that his best friend understood completely.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Maybe you shouldn't go to Hogsmeade today," said Arabella doubtfully.

"Now, now, don't disturb Prongs, everyone," said Sirius soothingly. "Here, Prongs, talk to me for a minute, will you?"

When they reached their dormitory, Sirius eyed his best friend. "You're having problems with the proposing thing."

"Well, how did you guess?" said James sarcastically.

"Look, James, don't worry about it. You and I are going to do just fine."

"Padfoot, I don't even know the first thing about asking a girl to marry me! I don't even know what knee to go down on!"

Sirius tried his best to subdue a laugh. "Prongs, you're worrying over nothing! Who cares what knee you get down on? I think it's your right one, though."

"No, I think it's your left one."

"Who bloody cares! Now, for the rings, I say we go to Hogsmeade today bravely and get the stupid things. I know my Bella prefers diamonds, but I don't know what Lily likes."

"Lily doesn't like diamonds, so maybe an emerald will do, d'you reckon?"

"Definitely, Prongs. Now, I say for the speeches, we write it down on parchment and remember it. C'mon, it's simple. All you do is write down whatever you're going to say, ask her to marry you with the ring, and wait for an answer. What's so nerve-racking about it?"

"Well, what if she says 'no'?"

"Oh, pur-_lease_. Lily loves you, remember? Or have you forgotten?"

"She could be thinking about breaking up with me any day now…and what if she's already engaged to some bloody rich Muggle? Her mum's that type of person, you know."

Sirius stared at him incredulously. "Prongs, for the last time, _stop worrying._ That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my life. Now, let's get downstairs and actually enjoy our ring shopping today." 

"But we usually go with the girls, and we can't take Lily and Arabella with us, now, can we?"

"Don't worry, I've got that all set. Moony and Wormtail are going to help stall for us, while Jennifer's going to tell us where the jewelry store is."

"I know where it is; it's right next to Madam Puddifoot's."

"Oh, that store! Never mind, then, Jennifer's useless. But we need their ring sizes."

"Both size six," piped up James.

Sirius smirked and clapped his friend on the back. "Let's get going, then, Prongs. We've got some ring shopping to do."

When they arrived at Hogsmeade with the rest of the student population, James and Sirius immediately went to the jewelry shop and stepped inside.

It was a rather dusty little store, but it held amazing jewelry of all shapes and sizes. There were beautifully hand-crafted earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings made out of gold, silver, bronze, and others. A small tottering man was at the counter, and gave a toothless smile when he saw the two teenage boys.

"'Ello, there! How may I help you?"

"We're looking for rings," began Sirius.

"Rings, is it? The engagement rings are over there by that corner next to the charm bracelets."

"How did you—?" said James, amazed.

"How did I know? Why, what else would a couple of young and comely teenage boys be doing in my shop for? Now, what sizes?"

"Six, if you may."

"Six…six…ah, I sell many diamond rings that are famous in Europe. Would you like one?"

"I would!" exclaimed Sirius, relieved that his job was finally done.

"What about you, lad?" The old man peered at James.

"No, I would like an emerald one, maybe," he said hopefully.

The man smiled. "Emerald, eh? You've got a smart girl, boy. I've got emerald ones, and I haven't sold them for ages yet. They're over there." He pointed to a shelf.

"Thank you, sir."

James looked over at all the emerald rings. They were pretty, yes, but none of them seemed to fit Lily. Just when he was about to give up and pick one arbitrarily, one of them caught his eye. It was a perfect size six, and was a simple gold band that held a medium sized emerald. One may think it looked rather dinky from a fair distance, but James thought it was perfect. The emerald sparkled brightly in its small, dark green velvet box, and it reminded him strongly of Lily's own brilliant, almond-shaped green eyes. It was perfect for her.

"Sir, I'd like to get that one." He pointed to where the ring was.

"Eh? That one, is it? You sure?" The old man raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"I'm sure," said James firmly. "That one, please."

The old man took it out of the glass case and handed it to him. "I'd have second thoughts about it, if I were you, laddie. I've had this one since I first started this shop fifty years ago, and no one's every looked at it twice, even though I admit it is very special. You've got good insight, boy. This would be twenty Galleons."

James handed the man the money, and pocketed the ring in his jeans' pocket. "Thank you, sir."

"What's your name, boy?"

"James, sir. James Potter."

"Potter, is it? Why, I know your parents just well. I remember your father coming in here when he was a boy, lookin' for a ring for your mother. Brave man, he is."

Suddenly, Sirius stood behind James, grinning. "I found a ring, Prongs? Look at it." He showed him a gorgeous diamond ring that was nestled softly in a small white box. "Ain't she a beauty?"

"Yeah. Hey, Padfoot, look at mine." James showed him his ring.

"That's cool, Prongs, but it looks kind of modest, don't you think? I mean, you Potters have all the money in the world to spend, and you spend it on this little thing?"

"There's something about this ring that I can't put my finger on, Padfoot. It may look rather small, but when you look closely at it, the emerald sparkles like I've never seen before."

Sirius squinted, and jumped back. "Merlin, you're right! Well, we'd better get going, the girls will get suspicious."

After he paid for his ring, the two of them exited the shop stealthily, hoping that no one saw them, and went to The Three Broomsticks, where the rest of the Marauders and the girls were waiting, sipping butterbeer and laughing.

"Hey, where were you two?" said Arabella, spotting them. "We've been looking everywhere for you, but they kept saying that you were at Zonko's." She jabbed her finger at a guilty Remus, Peter, Jennifer, and Violet.

"We were, but we didn't get anything," said James vaguely. "Nothing interesting there anymore."

"Not even a Dungbomb?" said Lily, looking surprised. "Well, I'm impressed boys. It looks like you two have finally grown up."

James and Sirius looked at each other nervously.

"Yes, they have, haven't they?" interrupted Remus, rescuing his friends' awkward positions. "We all have, since we are graduating from Hogwarts soon."

"We are!" exclaimed Lily, looking upset. "I've been here for the last seven years, and I don't want to leave." She looked on the verge of tears.

James immediately came to her aid. "C'mon, Lils," he said gently. "We've got our whole life ahead of us. Don't cry because we're leaving Hogwarts. We can always visit it whenever we want. I mean, doesn't it sound so…fantastic? Adulthood; never thought I'd reach it when I was a kid."

"Yeah, it doesn't sound real at all," agreed Sirius, chuckling. "I mean, can you believe it? _Me_, Sirius Black, become an actual adult and get a job? C'mon!"

They all laughed, trying to picture it, but failing terribly. After all, none of them ever thought of Sirius as a mature adult, figuring out bills and going to job interviews.

"We'll always be together, right?" said Violet quietly. "We'll keep on contact, right?"

"Definitely!" chorused the group enthusiastically.

However, Lily got a sick feeling in her stomach at the thought of separating from her friends and living on her own. Every single year, she had looked forward to September first, when they would all go to Hogwarts and start another fresh, new year. But there would be no next year…she was nearly finished with her magical schooling, and never coming back to be a student. Sure, she can visit Hogwarts again time after time, but it wouldn't be the same without actually going to class and learning something, or being with her friends on the grounds. 

And what's more, she didn't have a future. Yes, she wanted to become an Auror, and had all the O.W.L.s for it and hopefully all the N.E.W.T.s, but there was also the problem of where to live. She could get a cheap little flat at London or in her hometown, Surrey. But how would she be in contact with Sirius? Arabella? James?

The thought of James made her smile. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, no doubt. Visions of them being married and having their first child made the empty feeling in her stomach alleviate slightly. 

"You know, I don't think we should be thinking about the future now," said Peter nervously, wringing his hands together.

"Why not?" asked Violet, frowning.

"I mean, wouldn't it be good to just enjoy life now and think about the future later?"

"I suppose that's legitimate," began Remus slowly, "but we need to think about the future. We need to get a place of our own now, and get a job to clothe and feed ourselves and eventually our future family. The future is now, Peter, and there's no use running away from it."

"Wisely said by our good old Moony," said Sirius, smiling. "I second to that statement!"

When they finally gathered themselves up to go back to the castle, James held Remus back.

"You aren't going to break up with Jennifer, are you?" he said anxiously.

Remus bowed his head and didn't say anything. James looked at his friend with incredulity written all over his face. He didn't understand at all.

"But **why**, Moony? Don't you love her?"

"I love her with all my heart and soul, James, which is why I have to break up with her. I want to marry her, and I want us to have children later and be a nice family. But it can't happen, see? I'm a werewolf, and I have to leave home every month because of my transformations. I am a monster, Prongs; Jennifer wouldn't be happy if she married me or stayed with me after we graduate."

"Oh, that's just a load of crap to me," snapped James angrily. "She loves you, Remus. Jennifer wouldn't care if you were a three-headed dog, for Merlin's sake! The girl is head-over-heels for you, and you'd break her heart if you broke up with her. No, Moony, you aren't doing the right thing at all."

"You may think so, Prongs," said Remus lightly, "but it's the best arrangement. I want to make her happy, and asking her to marry me isn't going to do that for her. I want her to marry a man who can be there for her whenever she's sad, happy, or just plain lonely or bored. We've had the best moments together at Hogwarts, but I think it's time for us to say good-bye to our relationship, because it'll never work. We can still be friends, but the boyfriend-girlfriend thing is going."

James shook his head. "You're a stubborn one, Moony, so I won't try to change your mind more. But pay heed to me right this minute. I still think you're wrong for doing this, but it is your choice. Maybe Jennifer doesn't need a man to be there for her and pamper her to perfection. Maybe she just needs a man to love her and make love to her and have that same passion that she has for him. Maybe she just wants _you, _Remus. Not what you can give her, but just you, the person."

Remus sighed heavily. "If only life were that simple, Prongs. If only if it was clear-cut and straightforward like we all think it is. But I will make the decision that I feel is right, whether you all think so or not. That's what life is about, James: making the right and wrong choices. But the bad thing is, you never know which is which until after the decision, but by then, it's too late to alter anything."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Moony. Don't worry, I'm not mad. You make your choice and live with it. Just don't complain to me if it's the bad one, though." He grinned.

Even though Sirius was James' best friend and intimate confidant, sometimes he found more comfort in Remus. Remus was extremely wise and composed, and at times James needed those words of wisdom from his werewolf friend. He patted his friend on the shoulder in a friendly fashion, and they both hurried to catch up with everyone else.

***

"Oh, breathe, will you?" said Arabella, laughing, as Lily nearly fainted in the common room. "C'mon, the exams so far weren't that bad."

"You would say," snapped Lily wearily. "You're not the one who wants to be an Auror and needs top grades for it."

"True," her best friend admitted, "but you're still too worried about this. If you fail this, then I know James won't, and you can just ask him to marry you so that you don't even have to work while he does the nasty business!"

"Arabella Figg! A girl, ask her boyfriend to marry her? Isn't it supposed to be the inverse?"

"Oh, it's not like it's illegal or anything, Lils. C'mon, live a little, girl! You're always buried in one of those books of yours and never enjoy life while you can."

"I go to Hogsmeade," protested Lily feebly, though her voice wavered slightly.

"Hogsmeade! That's hardly the first thing about enjoying life. But you still have to go through that nasty Auror training, don't you? How unfortunate."

"It's worth it. I mean, being an Auror is so exciting, and very worthy. You save lives doing the things you do."

"I know! I'll go call James. He'll know what to do with you."

Moments later, Arabella came back with James and Sirius at her heels. James raised an eyebrow at Lily questioningly.

"Lily needs to live," explained Arabella.

"Er—" Sirius looked at his girlfriend. "Are you _feeling _all right, Bella? Haven't eaten anything Snape offered you, have you?"

"Of course not," she said indignantly. "He doesn't offer me anything, anyway. So what's the problem?"

"Lily is living," elaborated James, looking extremely perplexed.

Arabella laughed. "Not that way! I mean, the poor girl's been studying day and night, and I need you two to help me liven her up a bit. You know, enjoy life and such."

"Oh…" Sirius grinned. "Well, my dear Bellsies, you've come to the right people. We are experts of that, aren't we, Prongs?"

"Most certainly, Padfoot," replied James, emulating Sirius' sinister smile.

"Oh, NO!" exclaimed Lily, horrified. "Anyone but those two, Bella! They're pranksters; who knows what they'll do to me!"

"I know!" cried Sirius. "Torture Snivellus! C'mon, Lily, it'll be fun," he added, seeing Lily's face.

"Torturing an innocent human being is not my idea of fun," said Lily stiffly. "I thought you had enough sense than _that_, Sirius Black."

"Common sense and Sirius are two words that do not, and never will, belong in the same sentence, Lily," said James, grinning. "But let's not hex Snivellus and enjoy ourselves at the lake, shall we? I haven't been there for ages."

"Let's go then," agreed Arabella heartily.

So the eight of them (having dragged Remus, Peter, Jennifer, and Violet along) left the castle and went onto the grounds and took refuge under a nice, shady tree. Arabella and Sirius were laughing at something, Remus and Jennifer were chatting quietly, Violet and Peter were silent, and Lily and James were reminiscing.

"That was where you hexed Snape two years ago," said Lily softly, her eyes grazing over the glittering surface of the lake.

"Yeah," said James, sighing. "It seemed so long ago."

"And what you said at Remus' house," continued Lily, "it was so romantic and sweet."

"Oh, the letter." He blushed. "I wrote it with Sirius looking over my shoulder."

"Well, then, Sirius must be an auspicious sign." Lily laughed.

"Did I hear my name said?" said Sirius curiously, peering over his shoulder.

"Remember you were trying to help me write that letter to Lily last summer?"

Sirius snorted. "Right. You were trying to shoo me away, but I stuck around."

"Do you still have that letter?" asked James.

"Have it? Of course I do! You didn't expect me to just toss it in the fire, did you? Yes, I have it stored in my trunk."

"Do you remember when Deanna fed James that Love Potion in our first year?" said Remus. "I still remember the look on James' face when he saw Deanna sitting next to him in the same chair."

"Oh, that was priceless!" 

"Remember when Lily slapped James at that Quidditch game?"

"Yeah, that was funny. Ooh, what about when James put that spell on Snape to make him like Lily?"

"Oh Merlin, I bet you didn't expect yourself dating Lily Evans, James!"

"I would've died knowing that six years ago," said James emphatically. "But now I'm as blissful as ever."

"You know, the fifteen-year-old James of two years ago wouldn't have been happy to see this change in you," insisted Violet.

"No, he wouldn't have been happy," agreed James readily. "Tough luck, though. We all have destinies, and mine is with Lily."

"Isn't he such a romantic?" whispered Arabella dreamily. "Oh, Lily, you are so lucky to have James as your boyfriend. I'd love him if he were mine."

"What about me?" said Sirius, pouting. "I'm a romantic, too!"

"Yeah, right. Like you'll ever do anything romantic for me."

"You'll see." He winked over at James.

"What is he talking about?" hissed Peter to Remus.

"The proposing, of course," said Remus, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "They're going to ask Lily and Arabella to marry them…respectively, of course."

"Y-yes, right."

"Oh, no!" Lily bolted out of her position at once. "We have another exam in eight hours! What're you waiting for, huh? Let's go inside and study!"

"Which exam?" asked James sleepily.

"Astronomy. Well, let's go then."

"Wait, wait, wait," interjected Sirius loudly, "who said we were going to study, eh? We all know that crap, anyway, why worry?"

"I'll study with you, Lily," offered James, feeling bad for his girlfriend.

However, Lily sat down again, looking defeated. "You're right, of course, Sirius. I think I have been a little too panicky about our N.E.W.T.s. But they are—"

"—an important part of our future," finished Sirius impatiently. "I know, Lily."

"Lily, we have less than two weeks left of school. Please enjoy Hogwarts as much as possible before it all ends." Jennifer looked at her friend pleadingly.

"Hear, hear," cried James enthusiastically.

"I say we explore the castle!" said Sirius loudly.

"But what about our—" began Lily, but Arabella cut her off.

"Maybe the Room of Requirement," she suggested.

"What would be our reason, though?" Lily looked dubious.

"That we need a break from exams," offered Violet. "After all, it is true. Is it all right for me to grab Jackson?"

"Sure." They all shrugged nonchalantly. After all, they almost immediately accepted Jackson into the group, since he was dating one of their best friends.

Minutes later, Violet came back clutching onto Jackson's arm, her hair slightly in disarray and her face rather pink. Jackson grinned at them with unusual haphazard hair, and waved merrily.

"Hey guys; ready to go?"

"What happened to your hair?" said Sirius, feigning innocence. "You don't usually have hair like James'."

"Oh, that." Jackson blushed violently. "I was—er—"

"Snogging Violet senselessly?" interrupted James, unable to hide a smirk.

"Stop it," chastened Lily lightly. "Let's go, then."

The nine of them set off to the Room of Requirement, and soon found themselves thinking the same thing: _we just want a break from our exams._ A door suddenly appeared, and they all entered eagerly. Inside, there were comfortable poufs, armchairs, and a tête-à-tête; there were games (such as Exploding Snap, chess, and Gobstones), and books nearly at every corner.

"Excellent!" said James heartily, sinking into one of the armchairs.

So they all settled in comfortably, eating, drinking (there was a small storage room full of foods and beverages), playing, laughing, and talking. Time passed by very quickly, and they ended their time discussing their plans after Hogwarts.

"Definitely Aurors," chorused Lily and James.

"Department of Mysteries," said Jennifer.

"Department of Magical Games and Sports," added Arabella and Sirius.

"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," said Violet.

"Department of Magical Transportation," said Jackson confidently.

Everyone else looked expectantly at Remus and Peter, who had been silent the whole time.

"I d-don't have enough O.W.L.s for any job," said Peter sadly, looking down at the ground.

"What about a Healer?" said Violet, though only half-heartedly.

"I suppose…" He shrugged.

"I don't think I can do anything, with my condition and all," said Remus quietly.

"Condition?" said Jackson curiously.

"Yes, condition," he replied through gritted teeth. Remus was never much fond of Jackson because he was always questioning him about his so-called "condition". However, Jackson didn't push the matter further, and all grew quiet.

"You know, the Department of Mysteries is dangerous," said Lily, after a while.

"Being an Unspeakable would be so romantic, though," objected Jennifer, shaking her head. "You get to know all the secrets of the Wizarding world and everything, like where you go after death, and researching new things. It's amazing, the work they do there. I met a bloke named Broderick Bode, who would guide me through all the steps and stuff."

"Bloke?" said Remus uncertainly.

"Oh, Remus, don't worry. He's in his late-twenties; he won't harm me in any way."

"He'd better not, or I'll be sure to castrate him personally."

"Didn't know you had it in you, Moony," said Sirius rather stiffly. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Remus was planning to dump Jennifer at the end of the year.

Just then, there were footsteps that approached them, and got louder every second. At first, none of them worried, for no one could get into the room, but as soon as they stopped right in front of the door, they looked at each other. The room, which had been filled with refreshments and entertainment, had suddenly been filled to brim with socks. Puzzled, the seventh-years just stared until the door swung open, revealing Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor!" gasped James. "We were just relaxing; please don't punish us! Please, it was my idea, I'll do detention, but don't blame my friends and please don't take points off from Gryffindor. I mean, if you can just—"

"Mr. Potter, it's quite all right," said Dumbledore, chuckling. "No punishment will be given, though I do apologize for intruding onto your fun. You see, I couldn't find an extra pair of socks…" He gestured to the room with a grand wave of his arm.

James just stared at him, unable to comprehend what he had just said.

Dumbledore chuckled again, crossed the room, and grabbed a pair of socks, and left, leaving behind nine extremely confused seventh-years.

***

"I think I might faint," commented James, wiping his brow nervously, as they all got onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Why?" said Jackson.

"We're both proposing," said Sirius, as if it were every day that a boy proposed to his girlfriend.

Jackson promptly staggered and nearly tripped over the seats. _"What?"_

"Well, yeah. I mean, my Bella has been my girlfriend since first year. We've had some ups and downs, I admit, but she's still mine and I'm not losing her again. As for James, well, you saw how much he's wanted Lily to be his."

"Aren't you a bit too…young?" countered Jackson.

"Well, that is a bit of a problem," admitted Sirius, "but my uncle's left enough money for me to get a place of my own."

"That's lucky," said Jackson gloomily. "I still have to live with my parents until I get a job at the Department of Magical Transportation."

"An Auror is what I want to be," said James, "but it's going to take some training until I can be one."

"Three years. You sure you can handle that, mate? I mean, you can have almost any job in the Wizarding world, with your parents as top Aurors and you getting excellent grades and all."

"True, but none of the other jobs seem worthwhile enough to me. Lily and I are going to settle down somewhere near both our parents, and start Auror training at once."

"I'm working at the Department of Magical Games and Sports, since I love the job. 'Sides, I get to have Bella working alongside me," said Sirius cheerfully.

Meanwhile, back at where the girls were, Lily and Arabella were extremely puzzled as to why the boys pushed them out of the compartment for some "alone time".

"They're—er—planning a prank on Snape, probably," said Jennifer, laughing nervously. "You know, thinking that you might not approve."

"But it's Lily who always doesn't approve," said Arabella. "I never care."

"Maybe Sirius is going to give you something," said Violet, but Jennifer nudged her hard in the ribs and shook her head ruefully.

"Are you guys hiding something?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"No," they said simultaneously.

On the other side, the boys were preparing their speeches to give to their respective girlfriends.

"Arabella, when I first met you," began Sirius rhetorically, "you weren't much to me. And when our first year progressed, I still thought of you as very good-looking and sweet, but not my right type. However, when you went to comfort me that one night when I was feeling rather touchy, I realized that you and I were meant to be. I know we've been through more than a lot together, and that we've had a million arguments, but I want you to know that I'll always love you no matter what, and I want us to be together forever. So…will you marry me, Arabella Figg?"

The boys all clapped enthusiastically, and Sirius bowed low, grinning widely. 

"Now your turn, Prongs."  


"No!" said James quickly. "Wait…give me a second, will you?"

He nervously leafed through his speech, carefully handwritten on parchment. No, it seemed so awful to James that he wouldn't be surprised if Lily refused him at once. It was so ponderous, and so unlike the letter that he had sent to Lily last summer, expressing his love for her. What had he gone wrong now? When he glanced at the parchment again, he realized that there was no passion in the speech. Did that mean that he didn't love Lily anymore? Perhaps she _wasn't _the one for him, after all.

"Padfoot," he said weakly, "I can't do it."

"What?" said Sirius loudly. "Of course you can, Prongs."

"No, I can't," said James firmly. "I will not ask Lily to marry me."

"You idiot!" his best friend roared. "Here…c'mon, we have to have a talk." Sirius dragged him out of the compartment and into an almost empty one next to theirs, which held a giggly bunch of younger girls. When they saw them, they started to giggle loudly.

"May we occupy these seats temporarily?" asked Sirius politely. 

The girls nodded, still giggling and sniggering, making eyes at the two tall boys.

"Now, why can't you do this, Prongs?"

James sighed. "I don't think I love Lily anymore, Padfoot. Maybe we just weren't meant to be, and maybe my efforts were just wasted."

"How can you say that?"

"I don't know! All I know is that when I wrote that speech, it wasn't from the bottom of my heart. And now I don't know how to write it so that Lily will know that I love her. Maybe I should just break up with her, since I don't feel that passion anymore when I see her or hear her name."

"You will not do such a thing, James Potter. Any blind man could see that Lily Evans is quite a catch, and boys have been chasing her all around, Prongs. But whom did she accept as a boyfriend for nearly a year now? She loves you so much, and don't give me any crap about you not loving her anymore. What if I told you that she was having an affair with someone else? Say…Snivellus Snape?"

Jealousy that he had never knew existed in him surged through James, and his eyes narrowed into slits. "I'd bash Snivelly in the head, that's what! How **dare **he get my girl, the slimy, greasy git!"

"See?" Sirius nodded, obvious satisfied. "If you didn't love her anymore, you wouldn't care for the world if she went out with another guy behind your back. But you do care, and that's proof that you're still in love with her. So go do it, Prongs; go propose to that girl of yours whom you've tried so hard to impress for two years."

"Propose?" piped up one of the girls, whom James recognized as Emmeline Vance.

"Oh, hey, Emmeline," said James distractedly. "Yeah, I'm asking Lily to marry me right after we get off the train."

She squealed so loud that the two boys had to cover their ears. "Oh Merlin, I must watch it, then! Ooh…how romantic!"

"I'm proposing too," said Sirius proudly.

"But, my speech," said James, waving the parchment weakly.

"Re-write it and practice," he ordered.

So James re-wrote it and read it out loud to the girls and Sirius, his voice and hand shaking.

"Lily, when I first set my eyes on you, I knew I had fallen in love, but I was too young to understand anything about it then. We've hated each other for nearly half our lives, but in our fifth year together, I finally realized that I liked you. Which wasn't a good time, either, since you still hated me then. But I did try so hard to deflate my ego so that you wouldn't think I was an arrogant berk anymore. So I changed in our sixth year, but you were still adamant about going out with you. Then, I had consulted everyone I knew, asking them what was wrong with me. Well, they said nothing was wrong with me, but that you were scared of rejection, so I kept trying. Now that you have accepted me as your boyfriend and said you'd go out with me, I thought my heart would burst. You've made me so happy, being my girlfriend, Lily. I want to spend the rest of my—"

"James, it's now or never!" cried Sirius urgently. "The train's stopped!"

James' heart pounded loudly as he got off the train dazedly. When he spotted his friends and the girls standing together, he and Sirius walked toward them.

"Bella, can we talk to you two?" the latter said casually.

"Sure."

Simultaneously, James and Sirius dropped to their knees. Many of the bystanders gasped in the crowd, the Potters and Evans included, but Lily and Arabella were looking at each other with utmost puzzlement. Sirius had already started speaking his speech, but James' mind completely blanked out. That speech that he had so assiduously labored over and memorized shot out of his memory like a rocket. But doggedly, he began.

"Lily, you've always been special to me. Without you, I couldn't have survived in this world for very long. I know that we haven't liked each other for very long, but that really doesn't matter. I know that we both are in grave danger because of Voldemort going after us, but I always want to be with you, and if we die eventually, we shall die together. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're kind…any guy would be ecstatic to have you, and I thank my lucky stars every day that I was the lucky guy. I love you, Lily Evans, so I'm asking you…will you marry me?" James groped for the ring in his pocket, and held it out to Lily.

Tears came to Lily's eyes, and she nodded slowly. "Yes, I will marry you, James Potter!"

James' nervous smile broke into a full-fledged grin as he whooped loudly, and picked Lily up and spun her around. Everyone in the crowd clapped and cheered, even Muggles, for young love was something that everyone understood universally. James gently picked up the emerald ring from the box and placed it on Lily's ring finger.

Lily had never felt happier before in her life. So that was the reason why James was so secretive for the last few weeks, always with Sirius and talking in low tones. As she saw the ring on her left hand, the tears that had threatened to fall before had fallen. She smiled through her tears at Arabella, who was sobbing loudly on Sirius' shoulder, and knew that she was where she wanted to be at last.

If Lily had thought she was happy, then her happiness couldn't have even bee compared to James'. He was more than ecstatic. Seven years ago, he would have been horrified at the thought of asking Lily Evans to marry him, much less even calling her by her given name, but now, he knew that this was what he wanted. He wanted to marry Lily and start a family with her, to be a father. Even though Voldemort's rise in power was stronger than ever, nothing could penetrate James' happiness at that moment.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: All right, here's the deal. School has officially started, and to put it bluntly, it totally sucks. I never knew eighth grade would be so annoying, and now that we have relocated into a new middle school building, I cannot find any of my classes and am forever getting lost. Not a good combo, mind you, and I'm pretty much miserable with homework and SATs. So I'm extremely sorry if I take forever on chapters, but hey, my story is ALMOST finished! I started it in January of this year, and now I am probably going to finish it (hopefully) by December, but no promises! I still have three more chapters of their after-Hogwarts years, and the epilogue. Afterwards, I will start on a new story called "Growing Up". For more information, see my bio.

****

IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is currently rated PG, which means parental guidance is suggested. I don't know if I should up it to PG-13, or not. Do you think it's appropriate as PG? Because I do have some cussing, though not much, just an occasional "damn" or "hell". But I realized that I had some sexual implications at the beginning chapters…hints of having sex and the like. So what do you all think?

Thank you to my reviewers:

Kady Rills Wholi – Hehe, well, Regulus is eventually going to die, isn't he? I don't know if I'll kill Lurietta, since she's only one of those characters who come and go. Also, your L/J story sounds very promising! Plz email me at helenlu@optonline.net for any needed suggestions. I'll always be available!

Lily 101 – LOL! Hehe, I know, I'm in love with fluff!

Erynwen – Yep, I will definitely add you to the mailing list!

James-Padfoot – Well, this story is only going up to their deaths, but the epilogue will have Harry in it as a Hogwarts graduate.

Phedre no Delauney de Montreve – Thank you!

Agloechen - *shrug* I have no idea why they argued over a photo…probably just some improvisation from my slightly unstable yet brilliant mind. LOL!

Lily Evans Potter9 – Four more chapters will be done. Thanks for reviewing!

sarz – Thanks!

littocherryblossom – Nope, I still have four more chappies to go! :D

X-Girl X-File – Mucho gracias!

Templa Otmena – Hehe, don't worry, be as loud as you like for the requesting! I don't mind anymore, not with all the reviews, at least ;)

Brook – Yep, I've always wanted to be an author…but only as a second job. First is a lawyer :)

Hermione101888 – Thank you! *hug*

katherine – Thanks! 


	29. After Hogwarts: Part One

After Hogwarts – Part One

"Wasn't it so romantic?" asked Arabella dreamily. "I loved it! The wedding…and then the reception…everything!"

"It was all right for the most part, but I didn't like Frank and Alice snogging for about five minutes when they had to kiss," said Sirius grumpily.

James snorted. "Well, what did you expect, Padfoot? We'd probably see a whole movie of you and Arabella snogging when your wedding comes."

"Yeah, I still don't get why you and Lily are planning to get married so early. I mean, you guys are pretty young, and next April's going to come by pretty fast. Bella and I are waiting longer before we tie the knot."

Lily smiled and clutched James' hand, squeezing it tightly. "We want to get together before it's too late, Sirius. I mean, with Voldemort and everything—"

"Oh, don't remind me, Lils. I know all about the stupid git, believe me. I also think that Regulus is a Death Eater."

"You've been saying that for practically forever, Sirius, dear," objurgated Arabella, sighing.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? I only speak the truth, Bella."

Remus snorted, and turned it into a hacking cough, grinning at Sirius. "You wish."

"Excuse me?" Sirius pretended to look extremely offended.

James wrapped an arm around Lily's waist and held her carefully, as if afraid that she'd break any minute. Just the feeling of touching her created shivers down his spine and he smiled dreamily. Even with a madman after him and his fiancée, he still wanted to be married to Lily before it all ended. Before their lives ended.

"Hey, James?"

He blinked and stared around. "Who said my name?"

"Are you all right?" inquired Sirius anxiously. "You look all green, mate. D'you feel sick?"

James groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Now that you mention it, I do."

"I think you were affected by Frank and Alice's snog, too," agreed Sirius mournfully.

"Padfoot, shut up. It wasn't the snog…I guess I'm just not feeling well. Maybe it's because of the Order and stuff."

"Oh, the Order." Sirius rolled his eyes. "That's nothing to worry about. I think we can handle Death Eaters, four against one."

"Or not," added Arabella, frowning.

"Don't worry about it," reassured Lily, smiling. "There's nothing to fret about, Bella. In the meantime, I think we have to go on with the wedding plans."

"Oh! Of course!"

"Now?" questioned James incredulously. "Lily, the wedding is next year! We have plenty of time to plan all that stuff. We have a meeting with the Order this evening, though."

"It was so nice of you two to let the Order use your home as headquarters," said Jennifer approvingly. "I mean, you'll never get any peace at all. We all have to basically live there, anyway, since those are the Order's rules."

"Yes, it is rather stupid," agreed Lily, flushing, "I mean, how we all have to practically live together, being in the Order. But I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm rather honored that Dumbledore hand-picked us to be in the Order."

"Why wouldn't he?" said Sirius pompously. "We are intelligent and respectable people, after all."

"Can you believe we're out of Hogwarts already?" commented Violet. "I mean, it seemed like yesterday we were all little first-years, ready to be sorted into our Houses."

"Yeah, time flies by so quickly."

"You know that Ellyn Bedson woman from the Ministry?" interrupted Violet, looking upset.

"Yes, the one who worked in the Department of Mysteries," affirmed Jennifer. "She's all right, since she's helping me get started along with Bode, but she's a bit too condescending, so to speak."

"I don't like her," confirmed Violet. "She keeps flirting with Jackson at our breaks."

"Well, you keep flirting with Amos Diggory," said Arabella stiffly.

"I do not! He always hovers around me like a bee…it isn't my fault."

"True," admitted the former.

"Well, you can't stop that," added Lily. "Just ignore Diggory, and maybe he'll leave you alone. Merlin knows he bothered Bella long enough before you."

"Hell, yeah," muttered Arabella under her breath.

"Why does he have to follow me around anyway?" ranted Violet furiously. "I mean, I'm no pageant queen, and I definitely don't have the kind of personality that Amos looks for in girls. So why me?"

"Maybe it was because of that comeback you made to him at Hogwarts," said James thoughtfully. "After all, one can never forget something so brilliant and embarrassing as that."

Violet blushed. "Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that great."

"It was too! Merlin, I wish I could've taken a picture of Diggory's face when you said that to him. It was bloody amazing! You should be like that more often, Vi."

"Hear, hear," intoned Jennifer enthusiastically. She was always one to call for a change of character in Violet.

"So, Lils, you've already got some of your wedding planned, right?" asked Arabella.

"Well…no," admitted Lily, flushing. "We haven't had the time to think about it, actually, ever since the proposal."

"Oh, the proposal." She looked at Sirius dreamily. "It was so romantic. How did you and James manage to pull it off?"

James and Sirius both grinned, and winked at each other, and then at their respective fiancées. 

"Simple, girls," said Sirius roguishly. "Well, at least, it was simple for me, but for others"—he looked at James meaningfully—"it took some practice."

Lily laughed. "Don't tell me you were scared, James."

"Like hell," agreed James shamelessly. "Is it that surprising?"

"The almighty James Potter, scared? Merlin, the world may end any moment now. C'mon, you've bullied people nearly all your years at Hogwarts, and you were scared of asking one simple question?" She shook her head at him.

"Aww…give a guy a break here, Lily. It isn't my fault that I get nervous doing these kinds of things."

"Which brings me to my next point. You never get nervous, James."

"I'm still human," retorted James indignantly. "Why do you make me sound like I'm some sort of god?"

"You are," Lily pointed out. "Or, at least you were to the girls at Hogwarts. Were they upset when you proposed!"

"Furious," added Sirius, laughing. "They looked like they were about to kill you, Lily. They were upset enough that James fell in love with you, and eventually got you, but to have your love official by marriage? Their worst nightmare, I say."

"You're not too off either, Padfoot," said Remus thoughtfully. "After all, the girls were always after you whenever you had some fight with Arabella, and didn't make up soon enough."

"True, that I am a lady's man."

"What an egotist," mumbled Arabella, rolling her eyes. "I'm about to marry a man who only thinks for himself. At least your man deflated his head when you gave him a tough time, Lily."

"You think he's deflated enough, Bells? I don't think so."

"You girls always undermine us fellows," said James, pouting. "We're good to you guys; why complain? At least we don't strut like Diggory or Mackenzie."

Sirius involuntarily shuddered at the latter name.

Lily giggled and snuggled closer to her fiancé. They had reached the headquarters of the Order, and now entered it. Marlene McKinnon, who had a whole family of kids at the Order, but was looking to get a place of her own, greeted them. Alice and Frank were playing chess near the fireplace, and Mad-Eye Moody was glaring at them suspiciously through his eyes. James had always thought that there was something creepy about them, though they were normal ones like any other human possessed.

"Potter, Evans, Dean, Black, Walker, Lupin," greeted Mad-Eye gruffly one by one, as he inclined his head slightly toward them.

"Hello, Mr. Moody," said Lily softly. She both feared and admired the famous Auror.

"Alastor, girl, call me by my name. There shouldn't be any formalities in the Order. We're all a family."

Sirius grinned. "Well, that's good, because you guys can all be my surrogate one."

"Always the saucy one, aren't you, Black?" growled Moody. "Well, you're going to find a better family in the Order than your own, so feel right at home. However, you do know that the Order is very dangerous, and that you're giving your life to this organization."

"Certainly, sir," said James loudly. "We want to help you fight Voldemort any way we can."

Moody twitched at the name. "Potter, will you stop using his name, damn it!"

James looked rather alarmed. "But the fear of his name—"

"—increases your fear of himself. Yes, I know, Dumbledore has told me that plenty of times. Seems as though you admire Dumbledore so much, Potter, that you have decided to start quoting him to your elders, eh?"

"I meant no disrespect, sir."

"Yeah, sure you didn't. Evans, you got the papers ready?"

"Right here, sir." Lily produced a thick wad of paper from the paper folder that she was carrying. "Got the plans to his hideout and everything."

"Excellent, Evans. You've proved useful to us. Are you sure this is his real hideout, and not a bluff to throw us off? After all, You-Know-Who has spies on his side as well."

"I'm not sure of the true veracity of these blueprints, but I'm pretty sure they're partially real."

"You trust the spies who got this?"

"With all my heart."

"Good, good. I shall present this to Dumbledore himself, since this is very important information, and highly top secret. Where has Pettigrew and Bradley gone to?"

"Jackson's still at work," piped up Violet. "He hasn't enough time to do anything these days. And Peter's at a job interview."

"Pettigrew is absolutely useless," growled Moody. "The boy can hardly write his own name properly. Don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, having him in the Order. Bradley, though, he's very valuable to us. Don't want to lose him."

"Of course not," she affirmed readily.

"You wouldn't," Arabella pointed out, "because he's your boyfriend."

Violet turned red, and rolled her eyes.

"Sir, is there any news of the latest attacks?" queried James worriedly. "Voldemort hasn't made a single attack for nearly a month. That's usually not like him. He causes chaos wherever he goes."

"Shrewd thinking, Potter. I was pondering on it myself. I think that You-Know-Who has something planned that's very large and will cost lives. If only we can infiltrate his lines and know what it is."

"You make it sound like this is a war," commented Sirius, laughing.

"This is no joking matter, Black. We _are _at war, boy, and would you stop laughing? This is serious, Black, and I don't find anything funny about it. People are getting killed, and you're laughing? Live up to your name, boy!"

"My n—oh!" Sirius laughed harder. "Ha, ha, be serious…live up to your name…ha, ha!"

"Padfoot, shut it," snapped James, rubbing his forehead ferociously. "Can't you be serious for once and stop making a joke out of everything? We are at war, like Mr.—Alastor said, and we need everyone's cooperation."

"Sorry." The dark-haired boy looked down at his feet. "I didn't mean it."

"Where's Longbottom at? Longbottom!" barked Moody.

"Yes?" came the voices of Frank and Alice.

The Auror groaned. "This is why I never like to have married couples mingle with us elders. They always have to share the same last name. Ah, I'll just call Alice 'Hart' instead, to make things easier. Longbottom, Frank!"

"Yes, Alastor?"

"Done with that paperwork?"

Frank closed his eyes and sighed. "Nearly finished. Just got a few more sentences, and it'll be ready."

"We've got these recruits for the Order," said Moody gruffly. "Kingsley Shacklebolt…he's going to be a sixth year this September…Emmeline Vance…"

"Emmeline?" interrupted Lily, her eyes widening. "The fifth year, soon-to-be-sixth-year, Emmeline?"

"Correct, Evans."

"But she's—" She struggled for the words. "A bit ditzy, so to speak."

"Is she? Well, she is from a very respectable family, and from what I've heard, she's one of the top choices for Head Girl. Also, the teachers have all praised her well for her abilities, except for Hurst, the idiot."

James snorted loudly at the last comment, and Lily sent him a glare, causing him to cough and snigger more quietly.

"Can you consider my cousin?" asked Sirius eagerly.

"Who's your cousin, Black?"

"Nymphadora Tonks, sir. She's only about four years old, but she's a Metamorphmagus."

"Is that so? Well, then, I'll have to mention that to Dumbledore next time. Metamorphmagi are extremely rare, and they would certainly be useful to the Order. Good thinking, Black."

Sirius grinned and gave a mock salute. "Thank you, Alastor."

"Lupin! Full moon coming up?"

Remus looked rather alarmed at being spoken to. "Er—in a couple of weeks, sir."

"I'm assuming you will not hurt any of our members?"

"No promises sir, but I will try."

"Good." And so the dull afternoon continued, with Moody questioning and deprecating them about Order business.

***

Jennifer sobbed wildly, wiping her eyes. Remus had just broken up with her. It wouldn't have mattered to her as much if he had given her a substantial reason, but he hadn't said anything coherent that answered her question about why he broke up with her. Lily, Arabella, and Violet were trying to comfort her.

"Look, Jen, I think the boys might know something about this. Let's go ask them."

And so they went to the room that James and Sirius shared, and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came Sirius' voice.

"It's us, you stupid prat," called Arabella impatiently. "Let us in!"

"Gee, no need to yell, Bellsies."

Sirius opened the door, and ushered them inside.

"Do you know why Remus broke up with Jennifer?"

"He's scared," said James quietly. "He's afraid that if they stay together, and get married, Jennifer won't be happy because of his—condition."

"You mean you _knew_, and never told us?" demanded Lily furiously. "James Potter, I would have expected better of you!"

"Remus told me not to tell!" exclaimed James wildly. "It wasn't my fault…and I wasn't sure if he was actually going to do it or not. Trust me, he still loves Jennifer, but thinks it's the best for her."

"The best for me?" Jennifer sniffed again. "Why the hell would he think that? He knows I love him, and that I would never leave him. We didn't have to get married, but why did he have to break up with me?"

"I never knew Remus was such an idiot," mumbled Arabella. "How could he do such a thing?"

"Now what?" muttered Sirius to his best friend. 

James shrugged. "Jen, Remus wanted me to tell you that you should move on. You know, find another guy who would always be there for you."

"You mean Remus would never be there for me?"

"It's because of his transformations. He thinks that it would be a burden for you to have him disappear every month and get all cranky when the full moon approaches. He wants you to have a guy who can always be there for you, and will always treat you right."

"I love him," said Jennifer firmly, "and I'll never move on and find a new guy, because he'll always be in my heart, no matter what."

James shook his head. "Moony made a bad choice, Padfoot."

Sirius snorted. "You think? Our dear friend needs to sort out his priorities. Maybe he should ask Jennifer out again, and they should start all over."

"What seems to be the problem here?"

The six of them all turned around, alarmed, to see Professor Albus Dumbledore himself standing there before them, his blue eyes twinkling as usual.

"Professor!" James nearly shouted, and grinned innocently. "We were—er—"

"Laughing at Sirius' joke," continued Violet hastily. "We hope we didn't miss any Order meetings, sir."

"Not at all, Ms. Walker. In fact, I was going to find you all and tell you to enjoy yourselves. Don't get too caught up in the Order business here. You young people need to enjoy yourselves while you can, before it's too late. Mr. Potter, you are not even twenty yet, and you're working harder than Alastor these days."

"I am?" James looked at his old headmaster in astonishment. "I don't think I'm working too hard; I mean, we're just looking over Voldemort's possible hideouts and his Death Eaters. Of course, there's always the wedding, but we can put that aside for now if it helps."

"No, no, James, I want you to go on with your wedding plans," said Dumbledore earnestly. "You and Lily shall be married, and I will not be the one to stop you two from being in love."

"Of course we shall," agreed Lily, a bit startled at the headmaster using her given name instead of her surname.

"Excellent." Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Now, I must be off to assist Alastor in his findings—I will see you at our meeting tonight."

"Yes, Professor."

"Do call me Albus. After all, I'm not your headmaster any longer." He winked, and Disapparated from the spot.

"That was certainly interesting," commented Sirius.

Jennifer laughed, and for one second, she had forgotten all about her break-up with Remus, and chatted along with the rest of the group. After all, there were other things that would break her heart even more, and the Order needed her. She didn't have time to wallow in self-pity because her long-time boyfriend broke up with her for a trivial reason.

Lily smiled at her friend. She was angry at Remus for breaking off his relationship with Jennifer, but seeing her laugh again made her anger lessen slightly. Laughter was something that Lily had a feeling wouldn't exist for very long in their world.

James sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. It was a brand-new house, newly built and freshly painted. The paint was snow-white, and it gave the Order headquarters a sort of elegance to it. His stomach tightened when he thought of the Order of the Phoenix. Shortly after their graduation, Dumbledore had come up to them and asked them to be a part of a group that he had created to defeat Voldemort. They, of course, had agreed at once, and signed their oaths to the group. However, James felt a foreboding feeling inside of him that perhaps it was the wrong decision. After all, being in the Order was a dangerous risk. He would be putting his whole family in danger, since his parents weren't part of the Order—they were too busy with their full-time Auror lives.

He suddenly grabbed Lily's hand by impulse, and squeezed it tightly. His thoughtful hazel eyes locked with her brilliant, almond-shaped green ones, and he nodded slowly. Lily was one of the main reasons why he even bothered joining the Order. She was his life, and he had wanted her for so long now. James needed to protect her, and the children that they would have together later on.

"What's wrong, James?" whispered Lily, her eyes widening with surprise.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he said gently, and brushed his hand against her cheek. He felt small shivers escape her body.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Order. I'm putting so many of you in danger by joining, especially since Voldemort wants me to join him."

"He's given up on trying to make you to do that, James. We're too close to Albus for him to try anything on us again."

"You never know what Voldemort might do, Lily. Even though I hate him with all my heart, he is a genius. You know what Albus told us about his younger days. He used to be a prefect and Head Boy, and his name was Tom Riddle. Albus said he was one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever seen. However, he had sank too deeply into the Dark Arts, and now look who he has become."

"There has to be a reason for Voldemort to want to kill so many of us besides the fact that he wants control of the world."

"There is none besides that. He wants to get rid of any magical people who aren't purebloods, and then have the purebloods take over the world with him. If we don't stop him, Lily, this world is going to be a dark world."

"We'll stop him, James," said Lily firmly and resolutely, squeezing her fiancé's hand tighter. "We'll stop him, no matter how much it takes."

"Hey, you two lovebirds coming?" Sirius grinned at his best friends. "Arabella and I are going to Hogsmeade for a bit. You coming?"

"What about Jennifer and Violet?"

"We're not going," said Jennifer quickly. "Vi wants to spend the day at Jackson's house, and I want some time alone."

Lily nodded, understanding. "Sure, Sirius, we'll go."

"Great! Let's go, then."

The two couples Apparated right in front of Honeydukes, where crowds of students were busily chatting or shopping. It felt good to feel some of Hogwarts again through the students, and they were about to go to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, since it was a chilly day in November, when someone called their name.

"LILY!"

Lily turned around to see Emmeline waving energetically, in her little group of friends, the younger girl extremely excited.

"Oh, hello, Emmeline," she greeted cordially.

"Ooh, Hogwarts is so lonely without you guys!" she gushed effusively. "It's so dull without the Marauders spicing it up with some of their pranks."

"So we have made our mark, have we?" Sirius looked very pleased.

"Definitely. The Head Boy's really dull this year, and the Head Girl is even worse. I wish you guys were the Heads again…that was the best year!"

"How's your sixth year?"

"Busy. I'm still a prefect again, but I don't have as many responsibilities as last year. When's your wedding going to be, Lily?"

Before Lily could have time to reply, a tall and very good-looking girl who looked to be either a sixth or seventh year gasped and giggled along with her friends, pointing at James and Sirius.

"Look, it's two of the ringleaders of the Marauders!" exclaimed one of them, laughing. "James Potter and Sirius Black!"

"James! Sirius!" The tall girl waved and smiled seductively, walking over to them.

"Er—hello. Do we know you?" James furrowed his brow.

"Oh, I'm Alex Opalisk," she said off-handedly.

James suddenly recognized her as one of the lovesick fan girls who always followed him around at Hogwarts. She was a seventh year Gryffindor, though Merlin only knew how she got into it instead of Hufflepuff.

"Oh, I remember you," he said absent-mindedly. "Er—nice to see you again, Alex."

She gasped, her eyes dancing. "Oh, you remember me, James Potter? How splendid! But you already have a girlfriend." She looked disdainfully over at Lily.

"My fiancée," he elaborated, nodding. "We're getting married next April."

Alex's face fell, and her hand flew conspicuously to her hair, which was done in a fashionable twist, making it look elegant. "Oh, that's wonderful!" she said in an affected voice.

"Yes, isn't it?" said Lily, gritting her teeth. "Now, if you excuse us—"

"Don't be rude to the Head Girl, Evans," said Alex coolly. 

"_You_'re Head Girl?" said Arabella, who had been quiet most of the time, incredulously. "Who would pick **you**?"

Sirius coughed, hiding a grin.

"Dumbledore, certainly," said Alex, tossing her head in a huffy manner. "I do think I deserve the position, Figg."

"Oh, I'm honored you know my name, Randall. However, I would watch your mouth. We are respected people, and very close to Dumbledore. So if you step out of line, we will be sure to let Albus know at once."

"I don't think you have that sort of authority over us," said Yvonne Lorencia, one of Alex's friends. "After all, we are technically legal adults, since we have our Apparition licenses and everything."

"Agreed," intoned Alex, nodding virtuously.

"True, but these are dark times, and Albus trusts us with his heart," said Sirius. "He will dismiss any student unworthy of his or her positions as prefect or Head Boy and Girl."

"I don't think you should talk to them that way," put in Emmeline, while her friends agreed readily. "After all, James and Lily are Aurors-in-training, and Arabella and Sirius work for the Ministry. They are very close to Professor Dumbledore, and you should respect them. They are, after all, more adults than you, Alex."

"Don't talk to me like that, you stupid Mudblood," snapped Alex loftily.

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore of your crude language, Ms. Randall," said Lily, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just 'Mudblood'; I don't see the big deal."

"Certainly you might not, but it is using bad language."

"You're just saying that 'cause you're a Mudblood, too."

James flew up in rage. "Did you call my girl a—a—you-know-what, Randall?" he roared, causing several of the student body to stare.

"What, the great James Potter not able to say a word like 'Mudblood'?"

Regulus and his friends, who happened to be standing nearby, laughed when hearing this. "Go Alex!" Regulus cried, clapping. "Go out with me?"

Alex smiled, revealing little gleaming white teeth. "Oh, but Regulus darling, I'm a Gryffindor and you're a Slytherin. We don't mix well at all."

"Who cares about that. You with me?"

"Of course." She grinned, dreaming of the handsome Black.

Sirius groaned conspicuously. He had hoped everyone would hat Regulus and that he would end up single forever, but for some unknown reason, many of the girls chased after him like fox and hound. 

"What's the matter, big brother?" Regulus smirked. "Jealous that I have a date with a pretty girl, and you have a less-prettier fiancée?"

"Ha! Yeah, right, Reg. Actually, I was wondering how you could even get a girl to agree to be your date to Hogsmeade. Amazing, really, how someone like you can attract girls at all."

James bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. He always did enjoy the bickers between his best friend and the little brother of the latter; they were always quite amusing and entertaining to watch.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "Nice comeback, Sirius, really. However, I really would not be talking. You have some dirt for a girlfriend there yourself."

"That's it! I've had more than enough patience for you than you really deserve, Regulus, but you've gone way too far this time. Arabella is not dirt, and she is certainly better than the girls that you go out with. So I'd watch your tongue next time, Regulus, or there will be trouble. C'mon guys, let's get out of here and get a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. You come too, Emmeline, and bring your friends along as well."

"Oh, sorry, Sirius, I can't," apologized Emmeline, looking disappointed. "I have to get back to Hogwarts soon and start on my homework. We have so much this year!"

"That's too bad," said Lily sympathetically, as she and Arabella took turns hugging the young girl. "Hopefully we'll see you again."

"Yes, hopefully. You will visit, won't you?" Emmeline looked eagerly at the adults.

"Of course," piped up Arabella, smiling.

"Hey, girls, we know good-byes are painful, but I really am cold," said James through chattering teeth.

"Yes, yes. Well, bye Emmeline!"

They entered the Three Broomsticks, and sat at the nearest empty table. Madam Rosmerta gasped when she saw the foursome, and clasped her hands eagerly.

"Why, if it isn't the infamous James Potter and Sirius Black!" She smiled. "And who are you lovely young ladies?"

"You remember Lily Evans and Arabella Figg, don't you, Madam Rosmerta?" James gave a casual wave to the girls. "They're our fiancées."

"Fiancées?" Madam Rosmerta raised an eyebrow. "You've actually settled down with girls? I don't believe it! I think that you are fooling me here, boys, and that these poor girls are mere flings."

Arabella laughed. "Oh, no, Madam Rosmerta, we're their girlfriends, unfortunately, of course. But we, Lily and I, fell for their charm like every other girl at Hogwarts eventually, though they did have a tough time getting to us." She winked at Sirius.

"Stop it, Bella." Sirius nodded in assent to his girlfriend's statement.

"Why, if that doesn't beat it all—James Potter and Sirius Black coming back to my shop with girls and a steady relationship. Things sure have changed."

"Surely we weren't that bad, my dear Rosmerta," said James smoothly. "After all, Sirius has been with Arabella since first year, miraculously. Of course, they've had their good and bad moments—"

"A complete understatement," interrupted Lily, rolling her eyes.

"—but they still make a good couple anyway," he finished, raising an eyebrow at his fiancée questioningly. Lily stuck out her tongue in response.

"How did you manage to pull of a proposal without ruining it?" Madam Rosmerta looked truly amazed at the changes James and Sirius had gone through.

"Oh, it took some time, at least for James, but we pulled it off eventually," replied Sirius.

"You two have changed so much since I last saw you here."

"Well, with us being adults and Voldemort on the rise, we needed to grow up, I suppose."

The pub had gone completely silent after Sirius' remark. Whispers were exchanged among the magic folk, and they looked fearfully at Sirius, and then around the pub, as if waiting for Voldemort to appear all of a sudden into the shop. Madam Rosmerta had dropped the large glass of butterbeer that she was about to hand over to a tottering old woman, and the liquid spilled over her lavish magenta robes.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" exclaimed one young wizard, not much older than them, in barely a whisper.

"Yeah, Voldemort," said Sirius casually, shrugging. The wizard gave another shudder. "So what? It's just a name."

"Yes, but _he _might hear you and come any second."

"Don't give me that crap, Mr.—what's your name?"

"Jason Wood…hey! I know you from somewhere."

"Wood?" Sirius looked at James, and then back at the wizard in surprise. "Jason Wood, ex-captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team?"

"Yes, that's me, and you're—by golly! Cassia, look." He nudged the petite, pretty little woman next to him. "It's Potter and Black, our old teammates."

The small brunette looked startled, and then began to smile, her creamy face lighting up with delight.

"James Potter and Sirius Black. Well, well, we haven't seen you for quite a while yet. And what's this? Finally snagged Lily Evans, now, have you, Potter?"

James nodded and brought Lily closer to him. "You bet, Wood. You and Cassia married?"

"Nah. I've yet to propose to her, eh? No, we're still boyfriend and girlfriend, though."

"It's great," said Cassia in a bit of a strained voice. "We don't need to be married…staying like this is good enough for me."

Lily nodded politely. "We're engaged. So are Sirius and Arabella."

Wood set down his butterbeer with a clink. "Well, how about that? I would have never expected Potter and Black to be almost-married men. Congratulations."

James, Sirius, and Wood then started to discuss Quidditch, while the three girls discussed their wedding plans.

"You must come to mine, Cassia," said Lily eagerly. "I'll have you as one of my bridesmaids."

"I couldn't," said Cassia, shaking her head, laughing. "I'm not worthy of such a thing, Lily. Please, don't invite me. I'll only burst into a pathetic flood of tears anyway when the actual wedding takes place."

"What does that matter? Bella will probably cry, too."

"I second to that," intoned Arabella emphatically.

"Lily, don't you understand? I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I think"—she cast a furtive glance to the men—"that we should discuss this in the bathroom. Guys, we have to—er—fix our make-up in the bathroom. We'll be back in a jiffy, all right?"

"Yeah, sure." Wood waved an impatient arm around, too absorbed in James' rich-detailed account of the last Quidditch game between England and Czechoslovakia.

Cassia dragged the other two younger women to the bathroom, shut the door, and burst into tears. Lily and Arabella exchanged looks of perplexity, but did not say anything at first.

"Oh, Lily, Bella! I can't stand this any longer. I want to marry Jason, but he just won't propose. He's too in love with Quidditch to care about marriage with me, and says that he's perfectly content with just having a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship instead of an intimate marriage. I really want us to get married and have children, and raise them to be respectable and clever. But how can I?"

"How do you know that Jason doesn't want marriage?" asked Lily.

"Isn't it obvious? He says it all the time."

"Perhaps he says it all the time, but it may not be true, Cass. Men are unpredictable and whimsical like that; they say things they don't mean. I know it's really stupid, but that's how they've always been, and you should know that by now. Maybe Jason thinks that you don't want marriage either, so he's just saying that he doesn't want it to please you and make you happy."

"That's ridiculous. How can he think that? He knows I love him, and couples in love always go the next level by getting married."

"Yeah, but your Quidditch-obsessed boyfriend is different, like James and Sirius. They care too much about us that they're hurting us instead of benefiting us."

"How do you know all this?" Cassia looked at Lily in awe. "You haven't been in a relationship nearly as long as I, and you know more about this than I do."

Lily shrugged. "It's probably because I've known James practically all my life, and I've sort of studied and understood him, like a book. It's not that hard once you get used to it. After all, James is the perfect example of an unconventional man, and I understand how his brain works. That's why I know what I'm talking about, because Jason is out of the ordinary as well."

Cassia looked thoughtful for a moment, and then crushed Lily in a tight hug. "Thanks, Lily. You're the greatest. But what should I do now?"

"Talk to him, of course," put in Arabella sensibly. "That's the only way you'll get things out of men…you got to be the first ones to bring up the subject. Don't think they'll be the first ones to bring it, because they definitely won't be. They're slow that way."

"And I'm guessing you know this because of Sirius."

"'Course. With Sirius as a fiancé, well, life gets a little more interesting than usual, huh?"

Cassia laughed, and dried her remaining tears. "Thanks, the both of you. You two have really helped. I'll talk to Jay tonight."

"You'd better, and tell us what he says about it."

"Definitely."

When the three girls came out, the guys were already waiting for them by the entrance, still discussing Quidditch.

"You guys still at that stupid game?" Cassia rolled her eyes.

"You were the Beater at Hogwarts with me, and now you don't care about Quidditch?" Sirius asked in mock-horror. "Dear Merlin, what's happened?"

"Maybe it's the whole being an adult thing that's changed me." She shrugged. "Ready, Jay? Oh, and when we get back to our flat, I have to talk to you about something."

"Sure." Wood shrugged and they both Disapparated.

"You girls ready?" James looked questioningly at them.

"Yeah. Just give us a second."

Arabella turned to her best friend and smiled. "Think we have enough experience about life, Lils?"

"Perhaps not all of it, but we sure got enough to brighten hearts around us. Merlin knows we need more happy souls around here these days. There are barely any of them at all."

And what Lily said was absolutely true, especially since their world would soon turn colder.

***

"There's been a Hogsmeade attack." 

Those words kept ringing through everyone's minds as they prepared to Apparate to Hogsmeade, where many students were attacked. There were many casualties, and a few deaths.

Lily clutched James' hand all the way there, and even when they arrived at the scene of the crime. Her heart turned cold when she thought of all her younger friends, especially Emmeline, and the chances of them being either injured or dead.

"James, I'm so scared," she whispered, hugging his arm.

"I know, Lily." James kissed her passionately. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's going to be fine."

"It won't be," said Lily quietly, so that even he couldn't hear. "Nothing's been fine for a long time."

When they arrived at the scene, Lily involuntarily shivered. It was terrible. Shops and places were all in ruin, broken into and destroyed by Death Eaters no doubt, and it was complete chaotic, with Healers and teachers scurrying about in a disorderly fashion. There were screams and groans coming from everywhere, and upon the ground, there were dead corpses. The worst of it was, they weren't all completely discomposed to broken bones and flagged skin. No, instead they were just dead bodies of students, still quite healthy-looking, and each student lying eagle-spread on the ground had an expression of terror and astonishment upon their faces. It was sickening, and the eight of them cringed at the sight.

"That's perfectly horrible," whispered Peter, wiping his eyes from the stinging cold.

"Awful," acceded Sirius, his arm tightening around Arabella.

"C'mon, no use standing here," said Moody gruffly, as he tottered near to where Professor Dumbledore was, talking gravely to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. "May as well be of some use, hey?"

"You're right, Alastor," said Jennifer firmly. "Let's see what Albus and Minerva have to say about all this."

They approached the two professors, who looked over at the eight adults, and nodded in greeting.

"Hello, Misses Evans, Figg, Dean, and Walker. Messrs. Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew, hello to you, too."

"Professor, is it bad?" inquired Lily anxiously.

"It may not be as bad as you imagined, Ms. Evans, but yes, it is considerably bad. Not as bad as some of the attacks, but I think you may want to see some of the victims."

Professor McGonagall led Lily and the others to where the injured or dead were, and Lily gasped. There were many students that she didn't recognize, who were probably much younger than she, but there were two that she knew within a second. One, who lay groaning, was Kenneth Hughes, who had been Emmeline's boyfriend. Another was Laura Smith, but instead of groaning, she lay still. Too still. To add to it, she didn't move or budge at all.

"Professor," gasped Violet from Lily's left side. "Laura isn't—she isn't—"

"I'm afraid so, Ms. Walker. Ms. Smith is indeed dead."

"That can't be," said Lily dully. "No…Laura, she can't be dead!"

Suddenly, the truth of the statement struck her. Sweet Laura, who had been so shy at first, but then opened up to Lily, was dead, and never to come back to life again. The Dark Side had killed her: the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Lily had promised to visit Laura, but she hadn't seen her since graduation. She wouldn't know if Laura had passed her O.W.L.s, or if she had gotten a boyfriend! No, she would never know these things, because Laura was dead. She had been killed in the attack.

"Lily?" James whispered. "Are you all right?"

Lily nodded slowly, burying her head into his shoulder. "Oh, James, it's horrible! Laura dead, and Kenneth hurt, as well as many other children who are so small. Look at that little girl over there. She looks to be about a first or second year, and she's dead. James, will our world ever be the same?"

"I don't think so, Lily, but we'll try our best to pull together, and live through this. If we don't, then we know that the future generations will destroy Voldemort forever, and destroy all evil, if that's ever possible. For now, let's just concentrate on our present, instead of the future. I don't know when this will ever end, but whatever happens, I'll stick with you forever and never leave you. I love you, Lily."

Tears sprang to her eyes, as she hugged him. "I love you, too."

James' eyes went over to the outcome of the attack, and suddenly his hand brushed to his eyes. No, he would stay strong like a man, and not cry. He had gotten the conception that only girls cried, and he would stick with that thought in mind. No, he would never cry, but somehow, the tears came out, and he wasn't ashamed of them. The mere feeling of Lily's small body upon his gave him pleasure and hope for the future. 

He understood why Lily felt so passionate about the attack. He knew and liked Laura very well, and of course he and Kenneth were good friends. He started at the thought of his young friend dying from his injuries. No, James wouldn't think of these things. It wouldn't happen…at least, that's what he hoped.

The world was turning upside down, to put it eloquently, and James knew it. However, he meant what he said to Lily, and that he would always love her and stick with her. After all, he couldn't just leave her after two years of chasing after the redhead, now, could he?

Lily looked over at her fiancé, and saw him deep in thought. She smiled inwardly at having been part of the reason James was so mature and serious now, and kissed him lightly. He was so handsome, standing there with his long arms around her small waist. His naturally untidy black hair was ruffled as usual, and his hazel eyes were mixed with a look of concentration and gravity. Lily loved his eyes more than anything else about him did. Those eyes resembled everything that Lily loved about him. He always had a look to them as well. Usually it was a mischievous glint in those light brown eyes, but his eyes always matched the mood of the situation. Now, his hazel eyes had an appropriate seriousness to it.

James noticed Lily looking at him, and grinned. It was the largest and first grin that he did in days, and it considerably brightened the situation slightly, since everyone else smiled slightly, seeing him do the same. Perhaps they would have a better future where there was no Voldemort, but for now, they were in the present, and would have to deal with it, no matter what. However, James was optimistic, and knew, one day, Voldemort and evil itself would be defeated.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: *ducks* I know, you guys all abhor me so much that you feel like killing me on the spot! Well, I'm SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO (I can go on forever), SO sorry for taking SO long! I know, it's been nearly one month, and there hasn't been a single trace of me. Well, I shall inform you that I am still alive! *cheers* Also, I am very busy with schoolwork and other things, so I barely have time to even eat my meals! :P However, I shall put all my extra time into updating this story, which is nearly complete! Only two more chapters and the epilogue, and it is FINISHED! Yes! Then I can take about a one million-year hiatus and then start another fanfic when I feel like it :P

Thank you to all my reviewers! I don't have time to thank you all, so I will do it as a group!


	30. After Hogwarts: Part Two

After Hogwarts – Part Two

Lily involuntarily shivered, as she looked in the mirror. She and her three other friends were trying on wedding dresses, but none of them seemed to exactly suit her well enough. Not that they were too skimpy or too sagging, but they just didn't blend in with her dark red hair and stunning green eyes. However, though Lily had the patience to try on nearly every dress in the store, the manager and her friends had no such patience whatsoever.

"Do hurry, Lily," goaded Jennifer, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I have a date with Gideon Prewett tonight, and I'm not going to be late no matter what."

"All right, I think it's just downright sickening how you're just dating members of the Order," said Arabella bluntly. "It's so wrong. I mean, if you look at it in a broad point of view, it's like dating your brother, and that is very disgusting."

"You're making it sound too dramatic, Bella. Don't worry, I won't get hurt. Gideon's a real darling, and he's doing so much for the Order. I think he's a perfect gentleman, and would never try anything on me."

"Let's hope not."

Lily watched her friends' discourse with interest and worry. She was glad that Jennifer was not mourning over Remus' break-up with her, and moving on, dating new men, but she wasn't happy with the way she was just tossing away her friendship with him as well. Even though Jennifer and Remus weren't lovers anymore, Lily thought they should at least be close friends, like they were in their younger days. However, it didn't turn out that way at all. Remus and Jennifer completely ignored each other after that. Jennifer flirted with nearly every single Order member close to her age, while Remus sulked every day, watching his ex-girlfriend in the corners of his eyes and sighing every second. Lily, James, and their friends were severely disappointed in the two of them, but there really wasn't anything that could be done about it.

"Do you think it would be too amoral to not wear a white wedding dress?" questioned Lily to her friends, while she surveyed a light yellow silk with slight interest.

"It's just a wedding dress, Lily, for Merlin's sake," said Violet loudly. "C'mon, get your pick, and we're going. Jen's not the only one with a date; I have to meet Jackson over at the Leaky Cauldron this evening."

"Oh, you'd say something like that, Vi. But really, weddings are very important, and you must choose your dress carefully. One wrong move and the whole wedding may be ruined. Well, what do you think of this one?"

Lily held up a simple dove-white gown. It lacked the laces, frills, and ruffles of the previous gowns that she had tried on, yet its plainness made it look elegant. Her friends nodded approvingly, and had her try it on. When she slipped on the dress, she looked gorgeous. The dress blended in perfectly with her bright hair and eyes, and her three friends, and even the woman manager looked at her with admiration.

"You look beautiful, Lils," complimented Arabella. "Oh, you've definitely found the right dress. James' get his socks knocked off when he sees you in this." She started to examine the hem of the dress eagerly.

"Oh, Bella, don't be so ridiculous." Lily sighed. "Well, I suppose this will have to do anyway. There are no more dresses in this store; I think I've tried on all of them. Let's pay the money and go."

She slipped some gold coins into the cashier's hand, who looked pleased to see that she finally made a decision after hours of trying on the gowns. They left the store, welcoming the fresh air eagerly.

"Finally, I can breathe," said Violet happily. "I thought I'd die from all that perfume in the store."

"Seriously," agreed Jennifer. "Well—er—see you guys later, I guess. I have to meet Gideon." She Apparated.

"Bye, Jen." 

When Jennifer disappeared from their group, Arabella let out a conspicuous sigh of disapproval.

"What's that girl thinking, dating Gideon? He's a darling, for sure, but doesn't she know that she's hurting Remus every second of his life?"

"You can't blame it all on her, Arabella," said Lily quietly. "Jennifer thinks that Remus no longer cares for her, even though we know otherwise. After all, he didn't give her much of a reason to break up in the first place."

"Well, at least he should find another girl, too."

"That would be folly. He still loves Jen. Why would he find another girl? He's just afraid to hurt them because of his transformations."

"What an idiot! I still can't believe he did such a thing. Well, it was his choice, and now he has to live with it."

"Don't sound so mean about it, Bells," scolded Violet. "You know Remus meant it for the best. He didn't do it on purpose anyway."

"If he did do it on purpose, then I'd give him the Killing Curse right on the spot!"

Lily exchanged looks with Violet after Arabella's uncouth behavior and violent gestures. But then, there were no surprises; Arabella was usually always the one to express her feelings freely and without any sort of hesitation. Perhaps that was why she didn't feel a bit guilty about the accusations she made on Remus.

"We'd better get back soon," said Violet worriedly. "The Order meeting is in ten minutes, and Moody wouldn't like it if we're late."

"Yes, Moody," ranted Arabella. "He's another thing. Always telling us what do to. The man treats us like children, and we're nineteen! At least most of us are, anyway. But still, Moody thinks we're still ten and assume that we can't do anything, while you and James are slaving every day at the Ministry and at home, going through your aptitude tests as an Auror."

"Bella, calm down," ordered Lily. "You know that Alastor only means well for the good of the Order. Besides, we _are _still children, compared to him and Dumbledore. We're only nineteen, and that's not very long. They've been living much longer in this war than us, so we should respect them instead of making bitter remarks behind their back. Now, what do you say we make some nice green tea back at headquarters?"

"Lils, I need a place of my own. I can't just live at the Order headquarters under you and James' generosity. After all, you all are working day and night, and I'm practically the only one without a flat of my own. Sirius has his own place, and so do Remus, Peter, and Jennifer. Violet's living with Jackson for the time being, but they're about to get married soon anyway. Jackson's thinking of proposing next year."

"Arabella, you're going to be married soon too," Violet pointed out pragmatically. "You and Sirius can get a place of your own, just like Lily and James. Don't worry so much."

Arabella looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, yeah…" She looked as if she had forgotten for a second that she had a fiancé, an engagement ring, and a planned June wedding for two years later.

The three girls Apparated to London, and then walked the rest of the way to the Order headquarters, depositing Violet at the Leaky Cauldron. Lily rang the doorbell, and a familiar jingling of bells soon followed after the push. Fabian, Gideon's brother, opened the door and allowed entrance in a rather enthusiastic manner.

"How's your friend doing lately?" he asked them, as they settled down to the meeting, which would start in eight minutes. "She's going to dinner tonight with my brother, and missing the meeting. Moody put up a good fight before allowing them…even Dumbledore had to step in."

"The man's insane," added Sirius, going toward them and slipping an arm around Arabella's waist. "However, he's a great Auror and really knows his business, so I respect him for it."

"Why, thank you, Black," came a growl from behind the handsome man. 

Everyone jumped, and turned around, revealing Moody dressed in his evening robes, and acknowledged him politely. Even though they were like "family", as Moody had said when they first joined, they were still rather fearful of one of the greatest Aurors in the Ministry. After all, he was decades over than them, and had more experience, therefore earning a high place in everyone's hearts.

"Er—" Sirius shuffled his feet back and forth in embarrassment. "Thanks, Alastor."

"Where's that Potter?" Moody demanded. "You know where he is, Evans? He's supposed to tell us how many tests he's passed so far."

"No, I haven't seen him since this morning, sir."

"How can you not know, Evans? You're going to be married to the boy in two months. Well, I suppose all teenagers are like this."

"We're not teenagers," said Arabella with indignation. "We're legal adults, Mr. Moody, and I beg you to consider that. We aren't children anymore."

Moody peered at the brunette, and nodded slowly. "Ah, yes, always the feisty and outspoken one, aren't you, Figg? Well, you got a point there, girl. I never do treat you all like the adults you are, do I? I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time."

Arabella smiled triumphantly, giving Lily a "if-you-tell-him-off-then-he'll-give-you-whatever-you-want" look. Lily promptly rolled her eyes in response.

As if on cue, James came bounding down the stairs, running a hand through his haphazard jet-black hair. He was now growing quite tall, and had caught up on to Sirius' naturally well-built frame, though he was still as skinny and pale as ever. However, he was still as handsome as he was back in his seventh year, and still attracted many women on the streets, though James still stayed loyal to Lily. He waved merrily at Moody, who looked more disgruntled than ever.

"Hey, Alastor. Sorry I'm late. I had to fix my hair for my special girl." He winked roguishly at Lily.

"Make sure you aren't late again, Potter, and come right when I call you."

"Gee, what am I, a dog?" Seeing Moody's face, James promptly stopped his smart-aleck remarks. "Sorry. Er—yeah, I've passed nearly a third of my tests in the Ministry, and Lily's passed more than a quarter."

"I asked for your results only, Potter, not Evan's. She can give me her own account, and I don't need you to do anything about it."

James raised his eyebrows. "All right, then. When are we starting the meeting?"

"Just about now, Potter."

"Ooh, Prongs, right on time for once!" exclaimed Sirius joyously.

"The Ministry is still trying to recover from the attack the Death Eaters launched last month," informed Alice. "And there are rumors that Voldemort is planning to strike at Azkaban and release all the prisoners who will be willing to go on his side."

Sirius stood up abruptly. "But that would be nearly all of them! The only reason why they were probably put to Azkaban was because they did a dark deed or something. Plus the fact that the dementors are starting to cozy up to Voldemort, too."

"Yes, Black, 'tis true," said Moody, looking grave. "Good work, Hart. But now we have more things to worry about…more allies for You-Know-Who. Do you think the werewolves might join as well, Lupin?"

"I think they will, sir," said Remus in a lugubrious manner. His mind was clearly on something else. "The vampires have already joined ranks with him."

"Yes, yes, indeed. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. Where's Walker and Bradley?"

"They're off to dinner at the Leaky Cauldron," said Lily apologetically. "I guess we're short another two members, Alastor."

"Dinner, it's all these young folks think about!" muttered Moody.

"We have lives besides the Order, you know," retorted Arabella.

"Hush, Arabella," said Frank sharply.

"No, no, the girl's right for the second time today. Since you've put it that way, Figg, I suppose this meeting can be annulled. The next meeting will be next month. That will be all." Moody Apparated, to where, no one knew.

"Why does he listen to you all the time?" asked Sirius grumpily. "I think he fancies you or something."

"Merlin, Sirius, he's ages older than me." Arabella laughed. "I just have a great way of handling people, that's all."

"Can you imagine Moody fancying a woman anyway?" James sniggered at the thought.

"Well, now that we have the evening off, let's go to dinner somewhere, then," said Sirius. "Maybe we can go to that French restaurant and spy on Jennifer."

Remus twitched at the mention of _her _name, and shook his head. "You should really leave her alone, Sirius. She's enjoying herself, and we all know that you love to anger people who are having fun."

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Moony! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Sirius," said Arabella sharply, shaking her head at the tactlessness of her fiancé. "Leave Remus be."

"Oh…" Sirius realized what she meant and nodded. "Sorry, Moons."

"It's all right," replied Remus tiredly.

"Moony? You want to come with us anyway?" James peered at his friend worriedly.

"No, I'm fine, Prongs, thanks."

"All right, then," said Lily. She knew better than to pester Remus with a further, "Are you sure?" The four of them then Apparated away, leaving Remus to his thoughts.

__

Here I go again I promised myself I wouldn't think of you today

It's been seven months and counting

You've moved on

I still feel exactly the same

It's just that everywhere I go all the buildings know your name

Like photographs and memories of love

Steel and granite reminders

The city calls your name and I can't move on

Ever since you've been gone

The lights go out the same

The only difference is

You call another name

To your love

To your lover now

To your love

The lover after me

Am I all alone in the universe?

There's no love on these streets

I have given mine away to a world that didn't want it anyway

So this is my new freedom

It's funny

I don't remember being chained

But nothing seems to make sense anymore

Without you I'm always twenty minutes late

Ever since you've been gone

The lights go out the same

The only difference is

You call another name

To your love

To your lover now

To your love

The lover after me

And time goes by so slowly

The nights are cold and lonely

I shouldn't be holding on

But I'm still holding on for you

Here I go again

I promised myself I wouldn't think of you today

But I'm standing at your doorway

I'm calling out your name because I can't move on

Ever since you've been gone

The lights go out the same

The only difference is

You call another name

To your love

To your lover now

To your love

The lover after me

Remus stared wistfully at the stars that had come out of the sky. They twinkled brightly at him, as if telling him that everything would turn out all right…even if there were consequences.

***

Lily glared at her best friend, swinging her wedding dress over her shoulders. "Bella, help me!"

"Wait until I get this make-up on!" Arabella struggled with the eye shadow, smearing all of her eyelids with it.

"I cannot believe your naïveté about make-up, Bella," said Jennifer, rolling her eyes. "Even Vi knows more than you do."

"Arabella Figg, my wedding day is _today_! I want everything to be perfect, and you're not helping me! Vi, help me get my dress on."

Violet hastily went to help Lily with her dress, and within minutes, Lily was in her wedding gown, looking as radiant and gorgeous as ever.

"You look so wonderful, Lils," sighed Jennifer dreamily. "You're so lucky to be marrying James."

"And you call me the romantic," retorted Vi.

"Can someone help me with this stuff?" Arabella held up a tube of eye shadow in front of their noses. "Come on, someone do it!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Come here, Bella," she instructed. She took the eye shadow and expertly applied it onto Arabella's eyelids. "There." She smiled triumphantly at her work.

"How come you know how to do it?" asked Arabella, inspecting her eyes carefully. "You never wear this stuff."

"True, but it's not that hard, you know. You don't have to be a genius to do it. Merlin, if you can't do something like that, Bella, I don't know how you manage your job at the Ministry."

"Hey, I can do more useful things, unlike _some _people."

"That was an insult!"

"So be it!"

"Girls, girls," mollified Lily soothingly. "Bella, you're the maid of honor, and Jen, you're one of the bridesmaids. Is this how you're really supposed to act?"

"Oh, sure," snapped Arabella irritably, "you're not the one who has to wear these slippers that pinch your toes, do you? Lily, what were you thinking, getting these slippers? They're pretty and all, but not all of us have tiny feet like you!"

"Bella, calm down. I'm sorry, but none of us have the same shoe size. That's why I specifically told you all to get the size that would fit you the most."

Jennifer and Violet both looked accusingly at Arabella, who made a slight noise that sounded oddly like, "Whoops."

Lily chewed on her nails again. "Oh, d'you think I'm doing the right thing by marrying James?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "We've been through this a million times this week, Lily. Yes, you two should be married. I mean, come on, it was so obvious since first year. You and James' destiny together is written in the stars, for Merlin's sake!"

"I never see it in the sky at night," said Bella reproachfully.

"It was figuratively speaking, Arabella."

"Oh, where's my veil? Girls, my veil is **missing**! Merlin help me!" Lily looked around desperately at her three friends. "Where the bloody hell is it?"

"Watch your language, Lily Evans," cautioned Arabella in a nagging voice. "Oh—here it is!" She produced a thick wad of filmy material and handed it to Lily, who placed it on with a flourish.

"You're gorgeous, Lily," breathed Jennifer, smiling. 

Meanwhile, back where the Marauders were, James was currently panicking, chafing his hands together in the most uncomfortable and unpleasant fashion. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Frank were all trying to calm him down, but nothing really worked.

"Am I really doing the right thing, marrying Lily? What if I did something wrong? What if I don't deserve her, and she goes off and elopes with another guy instead?"

"Prongs, shut it," said Sirius tiredly. "You're doing the right thing. Now get these damn robes on before you wet yourself."

"James, your hair," said Remus practically, pointing to the groom's untidy hair. "You need to fix it."

"Impossible," said Frank briskly. "James has never been able to accomplish that. Only Lily can do it, and we can't have _her _come in here."

"Go ask Lily what charm she used," said James pleadingly. 

"No way! I'm not supposed to see the bride."

"No, you can, _I _can't."

"Forget the hair, let's just get the suit on and be with it," said Sirius impatiently. "C'mon Prongs, bear with me here."

"Hey, you're not the one getting married."

"True, but I'm planning to, and Frank here is already a married man."

James looked at the said Frank. "Were you nervous on your wedding day, Frank?"

"C'mon, Potter, you can do better than that." Frank rolled his eyes. "You were my best man, remember? And nearly dropped the rings on the altar?"

Sirius sniggered. "Oh, I remember that. Alice looked ready to kill when Prongs tripped on the hem of Lily's dress."

"Not funny," snapped James impatiently.

"James." Daniel Potter entered the room, waving his arms around. "It's time, son."

"WHAT? Now?"

"Come on, Prongs, you can do it," encouraged Peter brightly. "Then you can—"

"—be all nice and ready for tonight with Lily," finished Sirius, winking.

"Sirius!" exclaimed Remus, aghast. "You pervert!"

"And proud of it."

"Come on, James dear, you're wasting time here," said Mrs. Potter hurriedly.

James had gotten his suit on (with the help of his best man and ushers, of course), and left the room. He stood there, wringing his hands nervously, and gaped with Lily came out.

She was simply gorgeous. Her dark red hair contrasted beautifully with the snow-white gown, and her green eyes were sparkling delightfully. She smiled nervously at James, whose feet were frozen on the spot, and had to have Sirius nudge him in order to move again.

Lily smiled at James, who looked as if he were about to faint. He looked very handsome, as always, in a Muggle suit, though his jet-black hair was as haphazard as ever. There were murmurs throughout the guests when they saw the groom's appearance, but they weren't mean or degrading; in fact, many of the guests were laughing softly or silently to themselves or to each other.

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore smiled to himself as he looked at the couple. Lily and James had invited him to marry them and he happily obliged, feeling honored to marry such a deserving and loving couple as them.

"I am here, this day, to join James Henry Potter and Lily Roseanne Evans in holy matrimony…" Dumbledore continued his speech, until the final vows.

"Do you, Lily Evans, take this man to be your husband?"

"I do."

"And do you, James Potter, take this woman to be your wife?"

"I do, sir."

"Then I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

James lifted the veil shielding Lily's face and kissed her lips. There was much cheering from the guests, and he laughed inwardly when he heard a groan coming from his best man. They broke off the kiss reluctantly, and there was clapping, cheering, and wolf-whistles after it that deafened the surroundings.

After that, they had their wedding reception, where Sirius had stood up in the middle of their meal to make his best man speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have known James Potter for a long time, ever since we met at Diagon Alley at the small age of six. Our parents—or, at least mine—didn't approve of our friendship, but that didn't matter. When I first met my favorite girl, besides my girlfriend of course, Lily Evans, it was my first day on the Hogwarts Express. I had teased Prongsies about the redhead, and telling him that they were to be destined for each other. Of course, Prongs didn't believe me, thinking that I was being my weird normal self. However, he should have, because I was right!

"I knew that Lily and James were 'meant to be' ever since they started their first argument on the Hogwarts Express. Even though bickering and screaming isn't exactly anyone's idea of romantic, but I knew that behind those fights, there was an affection that would last forever. 

"However, these two stubborn idiots supposedly 'hated' each other until fifth year, when good old Prongs _finally _realized his true feelings for Lily Flower. Sadly, Flower did not share those feelings of love and affection, and it took two years before Lily finally relented to her feelings, and the two numskulls started dating in our seventh year together.

"Now, this may sound like a typical love story, but it isn't. These two are my best friends, and the greatest ones you can ever ask for. I've seen Lily and James grow up for these eight years, and believe me, every single look they've given each other expressed the deepest love. So I say to my best friend and his new wife, congratulations!"

Everyone started cheering, and Lily sniffed, wiping away tears from her eyes. James laughed loudly at his best friend's surprising gravity, and clapped him on the back. Remus couldn't stop grinning, and Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet had all cried along with the newly married bride.

A song had started up, and soon everyone was dancing on the dance floor. Finally, after hours, the last dance had started playing, and Lily and James re-entered the floor.

__

There's a calm surrender to the rush of day

When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away

An enchanted moment, and it sees me through

It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you

And can you feel the love tonight

It is where we are

It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer

That we got this far

And can you feel the love tonight

How it's laid to rest

It's enough to make kings and vagabonds

Believe the very best

There's a time for everyone if they only learn

That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn

There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors

When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours

And can you feel the love tonight

It is where we are

It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer

That we got this far

And can you feel the love tonight

How it's laid to rest

It's enough to make kings and vagabonds

Believe the very best

The song had finished, and Lily laid her head on James' shoulder, sighing happily. This was the best day of her life. She had gotten married to her fiancé, whom she loved very much, and they were about to start their lives together. What could be better.

James grinned, and stroked Lily's dark red hair gently. His heart was beating rapidly as he inhaled the sweet scent of his wife's hair. His _wife_…it all sounded so surreal. He gave a small laugh, despite the peace in the air. Eight years ago when he was just a little first-year, James wouldn't have dreamed he'd be marrying Lily Evans, the carrot-headed and feisty girl with a sharp tongue and an annoying disposition. They had hated each other then. Now, however, it had all changed. James had finally opened his eyes to the truth and poured out all of his feelings to Lily, and now they were finally married. It all sounded so strange to him, like a dream. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, hoping that this dream would never end. No, it wasn't a dream. This was real—and he definitely wanted it that way.

"Isn't it sweet?" whispered Arabella to her fiancé, as they both watched the newlyweds dance.

"Like sugar," agreed Sirius, his eyes darting around from his best friend to his best girl friend. "I can't believe they're finally together. Remember when we were first years?"

"How can I forget? Lily and James fought so much that we got sick and tired of them by the first month. How did they manage to get together with such malignancy emitting from each other for years?"

"Fate, I suppose. Us, too, of course," he added, grinning.

"Oh, yes, we should give ourselves plenty of credit, shouldn't we, Sirius?"

"Certainly. After all, we're the ones who'll keep them sane."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they're never going to last one minute without arguing."

***

"Hey, Lily, where'd my shirt go?"

James was rummaging through his large wardrobe, searching for his favorite shirt to wear under his regular robes, but wasn't having much luck. Cursing silently to himself, he strolled out of the room and hollered for his wife, the first thing he thought of.

Lily, who had been downstairs helping get breakfast ready, closed her eyes tightly when she heard James' annoyingly nagging voice from upstairs, and let out a heavy sigh. She loved James, for sure, but he was very irritating at times.

"I don't have the slightest clue, James!" she called back.

"But you're supposed to know! Women are supposed to know these things."

Lily's natural redhead temper flared up. "What do you mean women are supposed to know these things? Is this world so prejudiced that women and men have specific things they have to do in this world?"

"Ooh, busted, Prongs," muttered Sirius, passing the redhead.

"You shut it, Black!"

"Prongs, go handle your wife there, she's going insane! Next time, don't make sexist remarks! Gee, Flower, there's no need to yell at innocent passersby who simply make a small comment upon your exclamations."

Lily blinked at Sirius' amazing use of "challenging" vocabulary, and instantly felt guilty for yelling at him. After all, it was James whom she was really impatient with.

"You're right, I'm sorry, Sirius."

James came trampling down the stairs, shirtless. He gave a grumbling greeting to everyone, and sat down at the table. He grabbed a few rolls from the center and buttered it, ignoring his wife completely.

"It's indecent to be eating half-naked, James Potter," censored Lily. "Go put on a shirt now, and your robes."

"Oh, I'm quite sorry, but if I'm not mistaken, I couldn't find my shirt and asked you if you knew where it was."

"Well, I would have told you if you hadn't made that comment about women."

"Don't take everything so seriously, Lils, I wasn't serious."

"You're right, you were James," piped up Sirius from the sink.

Both Potters blatantly ignored that comment.

"It's your fault, so go find another shirt," said Lily pragmatically. "What's so special about this particular shirt?"

"'Cause it's my favorite."

"Idiot. Go find another one."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

__

"Yes."

"NO."

"YES."

"NO!"

"YES!"

****

"NO!"

By now, the couple was getting extremely on each other's nerves, and everyone in the Order stopped what they were doing to observe the argument. Lily and James' faces were both very red, and one could almost see steam rising out of their ears (though not quite literally, of course).

"Fine, do you really want to know why?" shouted James angrily. "It's because I was going to take you out to a really fancy dinner tonight with the other people who are Aurors-in training, and I wanted to wear my favorite shirt, which is the one you gave me for my birthday last year."

Lily frowned, and raised her eyebrows. Whoops. She had definitely not seen that coming from her husband, and at first, she was too shocked and surprised to answer. Then, she felt very ashamed of herself for yelling at James like that, when he was only asking her if she knew where his favorite shirt was. Come to think of it, he always threw a sexist comment here and there every day, and she never commented on it…in fact, she's never even noticed until now. What was wrong with her?  


"James, I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Huh!" He turned his back on her and looked away. Well, two could play at that game.

"Please, Jamie."

He sighed and turned around. After all, Lily was the only one who could ever soften him up like that. "D'you really mean it?"

"'Course."

James grinned and engulfed her in a large bear hug. There were cheers from everyone else in the Order as they watched the couple embrace passionately. Even though they had seen them argue at least once a week, it was still romantic and heart tugging to observe them mend their mistakes with hugs, kisses, or other affectionate gestures.

"How many times have we done this since their wedding?" mumbled Arabella to her fiancé.

Sirius scowled. "Too many."

"You can never get sick of them, though," said Violet cheerfully, as her eyes went over the couple with a glazed expression. "It's so—"

"—romantic, we know, Vi," sighed Jennifer, rolling her eyes. "Actually, I'm quite sick of it already, to tell you the truth."

"Hear, hear," agreed Jackson, sighing. "Those two bicker so much it's a miracle you can tell that they actually love each other."

"Well, of course they do," said Violet, looking insulted. "Can't you see it, Jack? They're just too used to fighting each other. After all, they had been doing it for most of their years at Hogwarts."

"I don't have much of an opinion, then, since I didn't know you guys too well until sixth year."

"What d'you think, Moony?" asked Sirius. He wanted Remus to participate, since his friend had been gloomy ever since his break-up with Jennifer.

"I think that they express their love through those arguments," replied Remus absently. "You may not see it, but Violet's right. They're too used to fighting each other, that even if they're in love, they still have to fight in order to survive with each other. It sounds unusual, but then, Lily and James have never really been what I call 'conventional' people."

"True," agreed Jennifer, giggling, as Gideon's arms encircled her waist. 

Remus visibly cringed when he saw the gesture, and he sighed. Well, that was what he'd get for making the decision, and he'd have to live with it, but by Merlin, was it hard without his Jenny.  


"I hope that dinner isn't canceled, Jamie," said Lily sweetly, as they sat down for breakfast.

"Just because of that little fight? Like hell I'd cancel it."

"Watch the language, James," chided Alice. "Honestly, you men just really can't keep those swears to yourself, can you?"

"Don't think you're all cherubic and angelic," said Frank, laughing. "I caught you giving off the whole dictionary of obscene words the other day when you tripped down the stairs."

"Not that you wouldn't either. It hurt!"

"Hey, I'm not arguing with you, Al. Don't want to end up like Lily and James, do we?"

"I can't say I wouldn't want to at all." Alice looked over at the couple, smiling. She had always admired the love between Lily and James, ever since she got to know of their predicament in her sixth year.

"True," rambled Frank. "I remember back in our fourth year where—"

"Not one of your stupid stories again, Longbottom," grumbled Moody from his muffin. "Tell us something else."

"But this is good stuff, Alastor! Don't you want to hear about how Alice and I got together?"

"Why should I care about how young people 'get together', as you call it? I'm an old-timer now, Longbottom, so I don't understand these type of things."

"Please, Alastor, let me tell it just this once!"

"Ah, fine. I'd probably have to hear it in my lifetime anyway. Continue."

Frank beamed. "So anyway, as I was saying. Back in our fourth year, I had a gargantuan obsession with Cassia Newman. I couldn't help it! Everything about her was so perfect, at least to a point-of-view of a fourteen-year-old: a spot on the Quidditch team, pretty, popular, smart. God, I would've been married to that girl if it hadn't been for Wood and Alice. Anyhow, one day, I was partnered up with Al in Potions. I was very angry that Hurst didn't put me with Cassia, but I was satisfied, nevertheless. However, we had started up a conversation while we did our potion, and I found that Alice Hart was even more amazing than Cassia, and I was immediately in love by the end of class."

"How sweet…puppy love," said Jennifer indulgently. She had turned rather scatter-brained once more after Remus broke up with her.

"I found it to be true love," objected Frank stiffly.

"Well, I find it sweet. After all, one can never been 'in love' at the age of fourteen."

"For some people it can. I had been in love with Al for the longest time, and we're now married. It may be fate, Jennifer, but you can still change things for the better." He had meant to say that to point out to her that life went on no matter what, and she could still go back to Remus, but it seemed that she didn't get the point.

Jennifer merely shrugged, and flitted her eyes at Gideon with a lovesick expression upon her face. Remus sighed heavily when he saw this gesture.

"So, what're you all up for today?" asked Arabella, trying to lift the mood of the atmosphere.

"Nothing, really," said Violet disappointingly. "Lily and James are going to that dinner, but the rest of us are basically hanging about for the whole day, besides that Order project we're doing."

"Well, you'd better do that then," put in Moody. "If you have nothing to do, Walker, I'd advise you to get started at once."

"Yes, sir." Violet rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Jack!" exclaimed Jennifer, clucking her tongue disapprovingly. "Do you mean to say that you have nothing planned for Violet tonight?"

"I—" Jackson looked startled. "Er—"

"Shame on you! Gideon always has something planned for me when I've nothing to do."

"Jen, he's been busy with the Order," castigated Lily. "This isn't fun and games; this is serious. Innocent people are getting killed day after day, and this is all you think about? I'm ashamed of you, Jennifer Dean."

"Oh, Lils, you're such a spoilsport. It's not that bad, really."

"Remember what I told you back in our seventh year? This is just like what happened during the Muggle World War II, when Adolf Hitler took over and became the Chancellor of Germany, and murdered so many Jews, as well as gypsies, Jehovah witnesses, and the handicapped. Do you know how sick that is? They were innocent lives, Jennifer! Like now!"

"I agree with Lily, Jennifer," said Alice quietly. "This isn't fun and games anymore like it was at Hogwarts. This the real world now, and you have to face it."

"Alastor, another attack!"

Everyone turned around abruptly as Marlene McKinnon exclaimed this, stumbling through the fireplace. She pulled up her emerald green hat, which was askew, her eyes sparkling with excitement and worry.

"Where?" demanded Moody urgently.

Marlene seemingly calmed a bit, and sighed in defeat. "Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" repeated James, looking at his wife worriedly. "Has Voldemort gone completely mad?"

"He released the prisoners there who served under him, and convinced the dementors to be on his side."

There were shouts of protest and disbelief following this statement. Everyone feared the dementors, of course, since they sucked every single happy memory inside you, but having them on Voldemort's side—

"I don't believe it!" Sirius stood up, banging his glass on the table, causing coffee to spill everywhere. "_Scourgify_, damn thing. Anyway, the dementors can't be on Voldemort's side! They just _can't_!"

"Sirius—" began Marlene, but he cut her off.

"No, the world will end if the dementors are on Voldemort's side. We'll lose for sure!"

"Then that would mean we've lost, wouldn't it, Black?" grumbled Moody. "Because Marlene's right. The dementors have always been Dark creatures as it is, giving you all the bad memories of your life."

Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but James shook his head at him.

"Padfoot, let it go. The worst hasn't happened yet."

"Then what is the worst, Prongs, besides this?"

James sighed, and looked out of the window, running a free hand through his untidy hair. "When Voldemort knows that we're against him and kills us all one-by-one."

Arabella wrinkled her nose. "Well, what do we do now?"

Everyone looked over at the pretty brunette in puzzlement. Many of the Order members didn't trust Arabella for many reasons. First of all, she had to question the authority of everyone, and was too saucy for her own good. Second of all, she was the fiancée of Sirius Black, in whom they _absolutely _did not trust, being a Black and all.

"What? I was just asking, what do we do now? We can't just stand here and argue. We have to take action."

"She's right," agreed Fabian from the far end of the table, through a mouthful of toast. "What say you, Gid?"

"I agree as well, of course," said Gideon practically. "Perhaps a group of us should make a visit to Azkaban."

"Are you mad?" roared Remus, jumping up. He personally wasn't very fond of Gideon, after stealing his ex-girlfriend. "That would be folly. Azkaban no longer houses allies anymore."

"I agree with Remus," said James loudly. "We should just let this one go, Bells. We don't do everything related to Voldemort, or the Aurors would be out of job in no time."

When everyone finished breakfast and proceeded to their work, Lily grabbed hold of her husband's arm.

"James, what should we do?"

"You mean about the dinner?"

"No! Forget the dinner, I mean our world. It's falling apart, and I don't know if I'm ready to have a child to live in such a world."

"Lily, don't worry about it. Whatever happens, it'll happen, and there's nothing we can do about it. Now, what about dinner?"

Lily stared at him. "There's just been an attack on Azkaban and you're thinking about dinner?"

"Hey, I'm a growing man here, and I'm really hungry. Now, c'mon, I know the Aurors will want to see us and we want to make a good impression of ourselves, right?"

"Right," was answered a little bit hesitantly.

"C'mon, don't be such a wet rag," said James jovially. "Sure, it's bad that the dementors aren't on our side anymore, but it was bound to happen anyway. Evil things, those dementors. You _are _up to dinner today, aren't you?"

Lily sighed, laughing. "Yeah, let's go."

James grinned fondly at his little wife. "I'm not the egotistical, pathetic little prat you used to hate back at Hogwarts, am I?"

"No, you've changed…and definitely for the better. Though Merlin knows why I ever did marry you."

"Hey! I thought you said I changed."

"You have. However, you being a married man is still something I'm trying hard to imagine, and it's definitely not working."

Lily grinned, and looped her arm through James', smiling contentedly. She was so lucky to have such a sweet and devoted husband as James, and she counted her lucky stars every night for it.

"I'm just kidding, Jamie. Let's go."

James took Lily's hand and squeezed it, letting all his problems wash away for one moment when sparks flew between them, like it always did.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything. The song lyrics that I have used for this chapter are "The Lover After Me" by Savage Garden, and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John (I don't like him, but I love the "Lion King", so…yeah :D)

A/N: *sigh* Yes it took me forever AGAIN to update this chapter, and it didn't turn out as well as I expected. Well, not really, anyway. I hoped you liked it! Oh, and I have a warning beforehand. I am going on a trip to Washington D.C. with the entire eighth grade next Monday, so I won't be able to update for a while. Consider it a break for you and me…me writing this story and you reading it (it makes no sense, I know). In other words, a short hiatus of four days. Then I'll be back on Thursday night, and ready to write on Friday (which will happen to be Halloween).

Thanks to my reviewers:

natmarie – Thanks for your comments! Oh, and to answer your question…I really don't know if Dumbledore cleared Lily and James' memories about the future, but let's just say that they don't know about it now :P

LilyE – Thank you! I hope you like this chapter.

Kady Rilla Wholi – Yes, I killed Laura, but Kenneth is still alive (though critically wounded). I know, I wanted so much to kill Alex (who's based on a girl at school) and Yvonne, but they'll die sooner or later. Heh – I like Cassia too, and poor Jennifer. I'm afraid I made her too scatter-brained this chapter. 

Agloechen – Thanks! Yeah, I was really disappointed about how Lily and James got together in the fifth book, so that's why I abruptly changed my original plot line to be at least some canon to the book.

Lily Natalia Evans – Yeah, James is a sweetie. I wish I had him! ;)

Erynwen – Thanks for reviewing!

Plaidly Lush – Well, I hoped you like their wedding this chapter :)

Lauren (laurenek@sbcglobal.net) – Don't worry, I'm not quitting this story!

champtennis – Thank you very much!

James-Padfoot – Yep, and now I only have two chapters to go…but don't worry, I'll be starting new stories too. 

christi – Thanks for reviewing, and yes, novel's going great.

X-Girl X-File – Yes, this story is ending at Lily and James' deaths.

popcorn1289 – Thanks!

Angel Street – Yes, I will include Harry's birth in this, and as I said before, I will continue until Lily and James' deaths. 


	31. After Hogwarts: Part Three

After Hogwarts – Part Three

James looked sadly at the Muggle bodies lying on the streets, and shook his head. He and many other Order members, including Lily, had been sent to London to investigate the Muggle attack by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was the third attack that month, and terror ensued everywhere in the Wizarding world. They couldn't even trust anyone now—not even members of the Order. Who knows what unexpected person may turn out to be a spy?

"This is terrible," whispered Arabella, clutching the hands of Sirius, and shivering. It was early December, and very chilly.

"Worse, much worse," mumbled Remus, shaking his head along with James. "I can't believe Voldemort would be like this."

"Damn him," cursed Moody, stomping his feet, either from anger or from the cold. "Bloody murderer, he is."

Alice gave a small cry, and huddled close to Frank, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was still at the crack of dawn, and the teardrops that slid down her round, pink cheeks looked like frozen dewdrops about to slid off a leaf after a night of rain.

"Why would he do this?" said Lily, her voice quivering. "It's barbaric, killing all these poor, innocent Muggles who don't even know that magic exists."

"We're going to stop him," said Jennifer with determination, as she yanked Gideon's arm closer to her own. "Don't you have anything to say, Gid?"

"Yeah, horrible," murmured the comely young man, scratching his head. "Fab"—he turned to his brother—"what do you make of this? I have an eerie feeling about this attack, somehow."

"It's a Muggle attack," replied Fabian, nonplussed. "What else is there to say? It's one of You-Know-Who's worst doings, but he has been doing these things for ages. What're you thinking about, Gideon?"

"Somehow," said Gideon slowly, "I think that this is an end and a beginning of something terrible."

"What are you on about?" demanded Remus aggressively.

"I mean to say that perhaps You-Know-Who—"

"Voldemort," corrected the young werewolf curtly.

"You-Know-Who might have some large plan to expunge all the people who are against him and his regime. Perhaps he has a plan right this second and is talking it over with his Death Eaters to get rid of the people of the Light—in other words, the Order. He may be planning to kill the Order members first before he moves on to other people. However, he could also go on to the most powerful Wizarding families in our world. They're the Bones, McKinnons, us Prewetts, and the Potters."

James' eyes flashed, as he looked over at the young man. "Are you sure about this, Gideon?"

"I don't quite have substantiated proof, but James, he'll be after us soon!" Gideon's crystal blue eyes widened considerably. "You would suspect that You-Know-Who would be after us, after all the work we've done to go against him and the Dark Side. You know how he hates some of the old Wizarding families who aren't on his side. He'll do anything to either get those families on his side, or kill them. Now that he sees that nothing would make those families support him, he'd probably resort to the latter."

"Hogwash," said Remus aloud. "A bunch of crap, I say!"

"Lupin," gasped Jennifer, her hand fluttering to her mouth. "It makes perfect sense, why don't you get it?"

"Oh, you're only supporting him 'cause he's your _boyfriend_."

"You're not supporting him because you're just jealous that he **is** my boyfriend!"

"Jennifer, Remus," scolded Violet gently. "Enough of this already. This is a serious situation, and we'll not fool around any longer. It's time for you two to make up and let go of your past. If you don't cooperate, we may all perish in this war."

"She's right," said Jackson quietly, holding his girlfriend's hands.

"You—" began Remus, but he cut his thoughts mid-way. "Never mind. I'm sorry."

"So am I," agreed Jennifer stiffly.

"Well, then," said Lily awkwardly. "Er—what were you saying, Gideon?"

Gideon simply raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at the young wife and sighed. "Your family may be in danger, Lily."

"I—" Remus stopped halfway through his sentence again, and refrained from speaking unless spoken to.

"Well, Gideon, then I suppose your family would be as well."

"Yes, I am quite aware of that, as well as the fact that there are many families that are plotting against our families right at this moment."

"Such as mine," added Sirius, finally joining the conversation. "My brother's a Death Eater."

Silence followed this statement, as the Prewett brothers looked his way. Fabian looked perfectly calm and nonchalant, but Gideon stared at Sirius as if he were a madman.

"You're kidding."

"Not. Is it that surprising, Gid? My family's always been supportive of the Dark Arts."

"Sirius, you know that your family aren't that loyal to You-Know-Who."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, but my brother wants to please Mother and Father, and he's blinded by Voldemort's stupid promises to all that join him. I won't be surprised if he runs away the day after he's recruited."

"He's still your family, Sirius," said Alice softly.

"Family? Ha! The Order is better family than mine ever was. Everyone in the Black family hates me, except for Andromeda. What does that tell you? My cousin, Bellatrix, has probably joined up already with the Death Eaters with her fiancé, Rodolphus Lestrange. Don't expect my family to not do anything to support Voldemort, Al."

"For Merlin's sake, Black, stop saying his name!" snapped Moody irascibly.

Sirius pointedly ignored the Auror, and took a deep breath, calming slightly from his sudden fulmination.

"So you're saying, Prewett, that my best friend and his wife are going to die, just like that?" said Remus slowly. 

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Remus," said Gideon pleasantly. He still didn't notice the fact that Remus disliked him immensely. "Does it not make sense to you? May I care to elaborate—"

"No, no, that will be all." Remus didn't want to tempt him with another speech.

"He's already taken over much of Europe," said Fabian statistically, looking over a thick wad of paper. "Let's see now…some of Luxembourg, Germany, nearly all of Britain, France, and a small part of Italy. I hear he's moving toward Ireland soon."

"How do we know you haven't made all this stuff up, then?"

"What on earth? Why would you suspect me of such a thing?" Fabian looked at Remus in astonishment.

"You never know if a member of the Order is an ally or enemy."

"Then how do I know if _you_'re not a spy?"

"'Cause, I'm not!"

"Remus," interrupted Violet soothingly, placing her small hand upon his shoulders. "Please don't start this again. It isn't like old times anymore; this is serious now."

"No need, Violet, I'm fine."

Lily sighed, looking over at the young werewolf, who was currently in despair. She felt terrible for Remus, and her heart went out to him, but what could she possibly do? She couldn't say that she knew how he felt, because she really didn't. First he lost his girlfriend, and was now living under the same roof with her and her boyfriend. Now, he had to suffer more than ever during the full moon periods, and there was always the threat that Voldemort may convince him enough to join the Dark Side.

"Cheer up all, it's the holidays," said Arabella, feigning exuberance. "How about we all head down to Hogsmeade and look at the decorations?"

"You young people can go," muttered Moody. "I'm going back to headquarters. Merlin knows that we need at least **some** responsible members who are dedicated to the Cause."

"You know, I'm a very responsible member of the Order."

James groaned inwardly, and squeezed his eyes shut. _Here we go again, _he thought gloomily. _Another bickering between Arabella and Moody is not something I want right now._

"Yes, of course you are," said Moody in a sarcastic tone. "Running off to God knows where every single second of your life—so faithful."

"Don't insult me, sir! You are no better, you ugly, you pathetic piece of—"

"Let's go," said Sirius suddenly, dragging Arabella by the arm and Apparating. Arabella sighed, and followed suit, and Remus, Jennifer, Lily, James, Violet, and Jackson went as well.

"Ah, Hogsmeade, it's good to be back once more," said Lily joyously, as she breathed the cold air, and touched the moist snowflakes that were falling.

"Let's go see Emmeline," said Sirius enthusiastically.

"Padfoot, you dolt, she's already graduated from Hogwarts!" James laughed. "She bought a flat in London."

"Darn."

"Now what?"

"Honeydukes," announced Jackson, when no one else would reply. Since there was nothing else to do, they all assented and entered the sweet shop, ready to empty their pockets of gold.

"James Potter, a pleasure to meet you once again," came an oddly familiar oily voice from behind them.

James narrowed his eyes, and turned around. "Snivellus," he hissed venomously.

"Severus!" exclaimed Lily, her hand fluttering up to her mouth, as she clutched James' arm painfully.

"What do you want, Snape?"

"Ah, finally calling me by my given surname, are we, Potter? I guess those nickname days are over, huh?"

"I said, what do you want, Snivelly?"

"Why, I can't say hello to my fellow classmates whom I graduated with two years ago?"

"Oy, over here!"

They turned around yet again to see Emmeline waving her arms cheerfully. She was as pretty as always, with her brown hair framed over her pink cheeks. Around her arm was a handsome man with dark-brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hey, Em," said Lily. 

"I thought you graduated from Hogwarts," said Sirius, puzzled.

"I have, stupid. Can't a girl visit Hogsmeade anyway? Oh, how rude! This is my boyfriend, Randy Smith." She gestured to the man.

"Related to Laura Smith?" persisted James.

"Yes, my deceased younger sister." His eyes clouded, and he looked over at James. "You're James Potter, aren't you? The most famous and youngest Auror at the Ministry."

"Oh, well—er—" James shuffled his feet, his face crimson. "I can't say most famous, but yes, I am an Auror at the Ministry."

Emmeline grinned. "Grown modest, have we, James? Well, Dumbledore sent me the letter asking me to join the you-know-what, so I'll be at you-know-where tonight."

"Excellent," said Arabella. "So, how long have you two been an item?"

"Three months," confirmed Randy, his arm tightening around Emmeline's waist. "Best three months I've ever had in my whole life."

"Em, can we talk?" asked Lily in a strained voice.

"Yes, of course." Emmeline followed Lily to a small corner, puzzled. "What is it, Lils?"

"What happened to Kenneth? Have you given him up?"

"Oh, Lily." Her eyes turned glossy, as she wiped the sleeve of her robes on her nose, sniffling slightly. "I would never give Ken up, no matter what. Kenneth was attacked that day so long ago at Hogsmeade, remember? So he was brought to St. Mungo's for treatment. They had already buried Laura Smith. I frequently visited Ken at St. Mungo's, but a month later, they had told me that his condition was extremely critical. He died a few days later."

"Em, I'm so sorry that I brought that up." Lily hugged the younger girl tightly, as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

"It's quite all right. You should have known sooner or later. That's when I met Randy a little later, and we began dating. You see, I don't love Randy, poor boy, but I respect him. However, Ken will always be in my heart, even if he was a fling at Hogwarts, because I did truly love him."

"Yes, I know you did, Emmeline. Now aren't you glad that I let you have that small break during the prefect meeting on the train?"

Emmeline laughed, her tears dissolving. "Well, duh! I may have been a complete ditz back then, but hey, I was good with the guys."

"Shall we go back?" Lily offered, taking the girl's hand in her own and squeezing it comfortingly.

"We shall."

***

"What am I going to tell him, Bella?"

Lily clutched her stomach as if it was going to fall off any second. Her green eyes inspected her best friend carefully, as she continuously smoothed down her thick, dark red hair with her other hand. One small white finger wrapped a strand of hair around it, as she chewed her hair thoughtfully.

"First of all, Lily, take that hair out of your mouth. Secondly, just tell James the truth: you're pregnant."

"Do you even know how he's going to take that piece of information, Bella? James will freak out, and maybe he won't even want the baby."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, why wouldn't he want the baby? James is a very paternal sort of person, though I really can't see how at this moment. However, you know that he loves you and would never leave you."

"I'm not sure if he does anymore."

Arabella dropped her hands that she had unconsciously been holding up in mid-air, and stared at Lily, open-mouthed. "Of course James loves you. You remember how he chased you back in our fifth year, constantly asking you to go out with him. He tried so hard just to gain your friendship in our sixth year, and finally had your heart in seventh year. Now you're saying the boy doesn't love you anymore? You're paranoid, Lils."

"Still, if James finds out…"

"Find out what?" 

Lily jumped up, and looking around, saw James come into the house, a hand running through his black hair. He grinned at his wife, and waved merrily, raising an eyebrow at the worried look upon her face.

"Why the long look, Lily? Are you hiding a naughty secret from your dear husband? You know that's not very nice of you."

"A secret? Certainly not!"

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Tell me when you want to, Lily. I'm going to fix something to eat. Boy, it's already two days before Christmas Eve, huh? Time sure flies." He went to the kitchen, humming to himself.

"I can't tell him," said Lily sadly, watching him leave.

"If you won't, I will."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"Arabella Figg, you will not tell my husband that _his _wife is pregnant. That's so unromantic."

"Well, you're the one who won't tell him, so do you expect to go up to him when your water breaks one day and say, 'Hey James, give me a ride to St. Mungo's, I have to get my baby delivered'."

Lily laughed despite of herself. "You're right, I'm being ridiculous. However, I won't tell him just yet."

"Then when will you tell him?"

"Christmas Day. That'll give him an extra gift, won't it?"

"That's the spirit."

"You know what else is ironic?"

"What?"

"Alice is pregnant, too."

Arabella squealed so loudly that James came bounding out of the kitchen, his hand flying involuntarily to his hair. 

"What the hell, Bella? What is it? Death Eaters? Voldemort?"

"Alice is pregnant!" she squeaked joyfully. "Can you believe it? Oh, now we know what she and Frank have been doing, locked up in their bedroom all the time…"

"Ugh, stop, Bells," scolded Lily, groaning. "You perverted individual."

James smiled. "That's great. I'll have to congratulate Alice and Frank the next time I see them. Frank must be really proud, now being a father. Wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl."

"James, if we ever had a baby"—Lily hesitated—"would you be mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be?"

James looked at his wife wonderingly, as she paled visibly. He frowned. What was wrong with Lily? She had been acting very strange lately, not her usual laughing self and sulked every day, looking out of the window flaccidly even at meetings. He had a fleeting thought that perhaps Voldemort was taking over her brain, but he vetoed the idea at once. Lily was too strong for people to take over herself.

"I don't know. Maybe you don't want a baby."

"Of course I want a baby…especially a boy. Then I'd name him Harry."

"Why is that?" _(A/N: Even though I didn't mention this, Dumbledore had already cleared the memories that Lily and James, as well as anyone else had of the future. Also, let's pretend the headmaster doesn't know about the future either.)_

"I don't know; it just sounds good in my ears. 'Sides, my grandfather was named Harry Daniel Potter. So if we ever have a boy, we shall name him Harry James Potter. It's a tradition for Potters to name their sons after relatives, especially with their middle names be the first name of their father."

For the first time in a long time, Lily gave a true smile. To see James so worked up over planning the names of their future children gave her hope that perhaps he wouldn't disown her when she would tell him that she was pregnant. James' hazel eyes were shining as he excitedly chattered on about the Potter history, and how their children would be all he and Lily would teach them.

"I love you, James," she whispered, hugging him.

"My, what brought this on?" However, he was pleased, and kissed her forehead softly. 

"I'm just really happy, that's all, and I do love you."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not who you used to be: that little redhead girl with a terrible temper and a sharp tongue—Evans."

Lily laughed. "I'm still a redhead, and I have a temper and a sharp tongue. Don't think I changed that much, James."

"Oh, but you have. You used to be so pushy when it came to boys, that no boys would go near you. I was the only one brave enough."

"Yeah, right. That was because _you _threatened to hex them for eternity if they ever went near me."

James blushed, and scratched the back of his neck, feeling ashamed. He had never realized that he had done such terrible things back at Hogwarts, cursing people whom he didn't like at first sight, especially Snape, and showing off every day with his Snitch and his hexing abilities. Sadly, many people had looked up to him because he was "Mr. Perfect". Only he, his friends, and Lily knew that he truly wasn't perfect, but only she had the nerve to tell it to his face.

__

You know you deserved that, said a nagging voice in his mind. _If Evans didn't tell you to stop being a kid and grow up, then you would've still been that arrogant berk. Seriously, you have a cold heart, James Potter._

His eyes widened, and he looked over at Lily pleadingly. "Do you think I should be in Slytherin?"

"What?" Lily looked up in surprise. "Why?"

"'Cause I used to hex people all the time back at Hogwarts, and that's a real low thing to do to anyone and anything."

"Oh, James, you're a true Gryffindor. Everyone goes through a period where they show off to get attention. Yours was just much longer, because you really did have something to show off."

"Thanks, Lils." He grinned. "If we ever do have a kid, I'll make sure he or she'll be just like you."

-

"Where's my wand?" screeched Sirius, looking around the room.

"It's right in your hand, you dolt," replied Arabella, giggling. "Oh, let's open the presents now, please?"

"Not until everyone arrives, Bella," admonished Lily, peering over to the brunette through the tinsel on the Christmas tree.

"Why couldn't your parents have used Floo Powder?"

"They're Muggles; you can't expect them to be so comfortable with the Wizarding ways, can you?"

"My Mum is."

"She's a Squib, and Squibs still know everything about the Wizarding world; they just can't perform those things with a wand."

Arabella thought about it for a moment. "You're right, I guess."

"I'm always right, aren't I?"

James grinned from where he was standing, eating a piece of toast. "See, Padfoot, I told you we Potters are never humble. This is what you get for marrying me, Lily—now you're confident too. It's not egotistical; it's simply knowing what you're about."

Lily was about to retort, but stopped mid-way, realizing that James was right. Though he had done some arrogant things, she realized that he wasn't always like that. Sure, he hexed people, but he grew out of that. He was simply very confident of himself, and never fumbling…a trait that Lily hated. She always looked down on people who "fumbled", and who were too unsure of themselves and weak. No, Lily knew that she was confident, too. Perhaps that was why she was attracted to James at first sight at the Hogwarts Express when she was just about to start Hogwarts. There was some sort of pride and determination in the eleven-year-old Potter's face as he had stepped out of the Ministry car with his head held high and his eyes with a sense of purpose in them. Maybe James wasn't always immature after all. 

"You're right," agreed Lily.

"I am?" James looked surprised. "Er—thanks."

"You've taught me something, Potter. I should never be humble about myself. When I first met you, I thought you were the most self-centered and egotistical individual I had ever met, and too full of yourself. However, now I know that you were never full of yourself—well, maybe a little sometimes—but you were just very sure of what you were doing all the time, or tried to be. It's not egotism, now know—it's trying to show that you're a strong person with nothing to hold you down."

"Isn't that a little too nice?" said Sirius dubiously. "I mean, come on, I've known Prongs longer, and he really was a bit conceited."

"Yeah, I don't think my intentions were that angelic."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're trying to be modest? Puh_-lease_, James, that is so not your area of expertise."

"Well, I thought I was good at everything." He grinned in a cocky manner.

"Hey, guys," said Jennifer cheerfully, coming in with a tray of hot chocolate and chocolate-chip cookies. "You all hungry?"

"Am I!" exclaimed Sirius, bounding for the food. He grabbed a cookie and munched on it enthusiastically. "Thanks, Jen."

She smiled. "Always the same, aren't you, Sirius?"

"Where did you come from?" asked James, helping himself to a cookie as well, though more calmly than his best friend.

"Floo Powder. I didn't feel like Apparating then knocking, so I decided to get here from my fireplace. Say, where's Gideon and Remus?"

Jennifer and Remus had recovered their old friendship a few weeks ago, and now they were as close as ever. Their friends knew, of course, that they were still in love with each other, Remus being a little more obvious than his ex-girlfriend was. Jennifer claimed lately that she was in love with Gideon Prewett and adored his twin brother, Fabian, but the girls knew that she was lying, though they admitted that she was quite talented in that area. Jennifer was still in love with Remus, though she denied it constantly to her friends.

"They're not here yet," replied Lily, "which is why Bella and I are going to take this chance and tell you to admit it."

"What're you on about?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know, Jen. You know you love Remus."

Jennifer nearly dropped the tray that she had been holding. "What gives you an idea like that? Our relationship is over, and there's no vestige of it at all. We're starting over with friendship, like when we were kids."

There was a snort after her comment, probably from Sirius. No one truly believed the veracity of her denial, of course, since it was too obvious that Jennifer pined for Remus even when she was with Gideon.

"Liar," mumbled Arabella, standing up from where she was sitting, and brushed back her brown curly locks. "I'm going to get Violet and Jackson. They're probably doing a naughty deed back in their apartment."

"No," said Lily a bit loudly than intended. "What if you _walk in on them doing that 'naughty' deed_? That would be so humiliating, not to mention disturbing."

"Oh, how could I have forgotten? Watching Violet and Jackson having s—"

"I have everyone's presents," interrupted Jennifer, a faint blush upon her cheeks. "Shall I put them under the tree?"

"Please do, Jen."

A few hours later, after everyone else had come and presents were opened, Lily was debating on how to tell James about the baby. She was biting her nails through the Christmas dinner while everyone else was laughing and gaily chatting about their plans for that day, and only James and her friends noticed her peculiar behavior. However, only James didn't know why she was behaving such, so he sat there, worried, while Sirius was knocking him off his chair every five minutes, being drunk and all.

Lily stood up, unable to bear it anymore. She had to tell him, no matter what his reaction would be.

"James, can I talk to you?"

__

She wants some kind of divorce, thought James, panicking. _I must be a really bad husband to her._

"What is it, Lily?" he questioned anxiously. "What did I do? I promise to be a better husband from now on!"

"No, James, it's not you. I—I don't know how to say this."

"You're cheating on me." His voice was flat.

"WHAT! You know I'd never, dear. No, it's just that I'm—pregnant."

There was a pause and then silence. James' jaw dropped as he stared at his wife incredulously. However, he thought of her odd behavior recently and how Lily had no energy for many things. Also, she had been constantly talking about "Harry" and if they had a baby, what they would do.

Suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. He was a father…a real father! He knew that his dad would be proud of him. He was a father now, someone that his kid would look up to some day.

"I'm a father!" he exclaimed loudly, and all the Order members got out of their seats to watch Lily and James' tender embrace.

Emmeline Vance smiled from where she sat in her stately attire. She had a sad smile now, not the seductive one she flashed in her Hogwarts days. Kenneth Hughes had changed her life, even though they had gotten together in the most unexpected way. However, the cruelty of life had taken him away from her, and now she was no longer that flirting and prissy little girl she was back in her schoolgirl days. She no longer wore those cut-off robes down to only her knees, but had an austere and prim adornment. Nevertheless, it had not vetoed her passion for life, and her spirit. Perhaps she would have been a good Gryffindor after all. After all, though her own love life was lost and would never be recovered, she was still a hopeless romantic and softened whenever she saw a touching moment between a couple in love…especially Lily and James. The latter did not know how much inspiration they evoked for the people of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, and how they would in the future.

***

"Padfoot, really," said James in a panicking voice. "Come with me. I need someone to take Lily to St. Mungo's." _(A/N: Is that where they get the babies delivered? Well, it's going to be now!)_

"Why would you want to go to St. Mungo's?" murmured Sirius sleepily through the flames in the fireplace. He was in his own apartment, and Arabella was sleeping in the next room. "You sick, Prongs?"

"Lily's baby is coming!"

"WHAT?" Sirius scrambled to his feet, now very wide-awake. "Well, why didn't you say so, Prongs? I'll get Bella." 

He hollered for his girlfriend in her room. "Bella!"

Arabella groaned, and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Why the hell are you calling me up in this hour, Sirius? It's only seven o'clock and a Saturday. Go back to sleep, will you?"

"Lily's baby is coming!"

Her reaction was quite similar to her boyfriend's. She hurriedly dressed into a navy blue pair of robes and Apparated to the Potter Estate along with a half-dressed Sirius.

"We can't have her Apparate," she said gravely. "It'll kill her. So will Floo Powder. So now what do we do?"

"Call Violet," advised Lily, breathing heavily. "Oh, James, what do I do?"

"Calm down, Lils, we'll think of something."

So Violet and Jackson, whom were both already awake by then, Apparated to the Order headquarters. Both were very composed, unlike the other four best friends, who had been in frenzy before that.

"You're right that Apparating is out, but Floo Powder is the only other way," said Violet. 

"But—"

"James! Listen, we don't have time to drive all the way there. We're Flooing, and that's that."

So they had gotten Lily to the hospital, and she had been in labor for quite a few hours. Remus and Jennifer had arrived soon after Lily and the rest of the group, and they were all waiting outside the room where they could hear Lily's faint screaming inside the room. 

James was twiddling his thumbs, and looked around him nervously. His eyes rested on a tall and very comely young man, looking up at the ceiling. When the man turned his face to him, he gasped.

"Frank?" 

"James?"

"What're you doing here?" asked Sirius. "You hear about Lily and her baby?"

"No, I'm here for Alice," he replied, puzzled. "What…Lily's having her baby, too?"

When they nodded, Frank grinned. "I guess our kids are going to be born on the same day, hey, James?"

James nodded, feeling slightly calmer. At least there was someone who was in the exact same position as he was in at the moment. 

"Jamie here's been worried all day," said Sirius, his eyes drooping. "Woke me up at seven in the morning."

"We've been here since six," put in Frank, sighing. "Poor Al…you two decide on a name yet? If we have a boy, it'll be Neville after his grandfather. If a girl, then Jackie."

"Harry if it's a boy," confirmed James, "and we don't know the name if it's a girl. If it's a boy, he'll be Harry James."

"Harry James Potter," repeated Frank, and said it to himself several times. "Harry James Potter—I like it! That name will be his most prized possession for the rest of his life, that will. Maybe others will like it so much, and tell it to their friends so that everyone will know him!"

Little did he know that that statement would come true.

A few more hours later, when James, Frank, and everyone else were asleep on the chairs, a kind-faced Healer came out of the room where Lily was and tapped James' shoulder.

"Are you the young husband of Lily Potter?" she queried softly.

James jerked awake and stared blearily at her. "Yeah, Lily's my wife."

"You have a son, sir. You may come in if you wish."

He hurriedly complied and went in the room. There, Lily was fast asleep, her dark red hair framed over her pale face. Next to her in a small bed, a small baby was sleeping. Though he was only an infant, he already had a very small patch of light black hair. James grinned. Harry already had his hair. The baby suddenly woke up and started to cry, waking Lily up in the process. In closer inspection, he saw that the baby's eyes were a bright, brilliant green…Lily's eyes.

Tears came to James' own hazel eyes as he smiled at Lily, who gave him a weak smile in return.

"He's beautiful," he whispered softly. "Harry James Potter. He's got your eyes, Lily."

"He's got your hair and nearly all your looks," replied Lily lovingly. "He'll be the replica of you when he's older, James."

"I hope his personality, however, is exactly like his mother's. I learned from my mistakes, but I don't want little Harry here to be the bullying prat I was at school."

"Harry Potter. It's a wonderful name, dear," complimented the Healer kindly. "You are the famous young Auror, James Potter, are you not? The son of Daniel and Sarah Potter, our most elite Aurors at the Ministry?"

James blushed and grinned. "Nah, we Potters aren't that great. It's sort of a tradition for us to become Aurors, because we've always had 'nothing to fear or lose'. My grandfather came up with a quote for our family: 'Us Potters have always been bold, smart-alecks, but nothing can take away our spirit.' I do hope that my son can carry that out as well, as a legacy to the Potters before and after us."

"Well said, Mr. Potter. Who knows, maybe your son will become a famous Auror like you and the rest of your family someday." The Healer smiled indulgently at James and then looked over at Lily. "Dear, you're the talk of us Healers here at St. Mungo's. We've always admired you from the first time we saw your picture in the _Daily Prophet._ You and your husband have always been a source of admiration for most of us in the Wizarding world. We all know that you will do great things in the future."

Lily smiled politely and nodded. However, she wasn't so sure on the inside that she would be brilliant. Everyone seemed to think that she and James were the most wonderful Aurors in the Ministry, and would do great things in the future, but what could she do? They were just a bunch of young kids, fresh out of Hogwarts for only a few years, in love. Maybe she, James, and little Harry were destined for great things in the future, but she'd never know now.

By then, everyone came into her room, and she squealed with joy at the knowledge that Alice gave birth to her baby boy, Neville, as well. It was a memorable moment, with all the friends standing around a tired but exhilarated Lily and the Potters' newborn son. It seemed as though the happiness would never end.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The year of 1980 passed by quickly, and by then it was September of 1981. Sirius and Arabella were married in the June of that year, and Harry was already one year old. However, the events around them were not that cheerful. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters were dominating all of Europe, and moving on into the West, into the States, where the Wizarding community was extremely powerful, even more so than in Europe. Of course, more power attracted Voldemort. 

The Order was getting frantic. Nearly half of their members were dead or captured. Gideon and Fabian were both dead, killed by Death Eaters. They had been brave and loyal to the Order, fighting until the end. Jennifer had been in a state of depression ever since the incident, because even though she hadn't been deeply in love with Gideon, she liked him very much, and he had treated her well. Others among the dead was Marlene McKinnon, whom the Death Eaters had killed along with the rest of her family. Dorcas Meadowes and Edgar Bones were also killed, the former murdered personally by Voldemort. 

However, the most dramatic change in their lives was the fact that Voldemort was now after Lily and James. No one, not even Dumbledore, knew really why, except for the fact that it was something about a prophecy. Sirius, of course, had been made the Secret Keeper, because James trusted him with all his heart. However, many of the Order members were doubtful. Trust a Black to keep a secret such as this? Preposterous! The Blacks have been known to be supporters of the Dark Arts, not the Light. Nevertheless, James held a firm foot on his decision, and everyone soon relented. However, no one knew that Lily, James, and Sirius changed the Secret Keeper to be Peter. Remus didn't even know, because Sirius didn't trust him anymore. He was a werewolf, and werewolves were easily influenced…who knew if Remus was really on their side.

So they had chosen Peter, since he was the other best friend that Lily and James could rely on. No one suspected Peter to be anything but loyal to the Order. No one suspected that Peter's loyalties were already divided.

Lily and James were now living in Godric's Hollow. It was the safest place for hiding, and Voldemort would probably never suspect it. 

"I don't know, James," said Lily quietly. "There's something I can't put my finger on. Maybe we shouldn't have changed Secret Keepers."

"What could possibly possess you to say that, Lils? You don't trust Peter?"

"I don't know, James," she repeated. "It's a feeling I have. About something that's going to happen soon."

"Maybe you're just worrying too much."

"You think?"

"You need a break, Lily. You've been tiring yourself at the Ministry too much. Live a little. Look at the beautiful fall landscape outside. There's nothing like fall in England, huh? Today's Halloween, we should celebrate.

"Except for the fact that we can't even see our friends often anymore, and we can barely go outside for fear that Voldemort would pop up any moment and kill us along with poor Harry. I'm scared, James."

James sighed, and looked away. "So am I, Lily. So am I."

Silence followed, and it was only shattered when there was a piercing cry from baby Harry from his crib. Lily hurriedly went to him, and picked him up gently, humming a soft lullaby in process. James watched his wife and son tenderly from the corner of his eye, and held out his arms.

"Let me hold him."

Lily handed him Harry, and he rocked his fragile son like he was a piece of glass. Harry gurgled, and looked up at his father with large almond-shaped green eyes that sparkled brightly. His small hand went up to the growing tuft of black hair on his head, and squealed.

"Look at him!" exclaimed Lily, laughing. "Already like you, James, messing up his hair like you used to do when you were at Hogwarts."

"Nah." The father shook his head. "I don't think Harry's like me at all, Lily. There's something about him that I can't just put my finger on. I actually feel myself vibrate whenever I hold him, and I feel a sense of power radiate from his body. This boy will grow up to be powerful, Lils. I can feel it. He may look like me, but he has your personality, and that's something that Harry's blessed with. Having my type of personality is something he'd hate me for when he grows older."

"You aren't that bad."

"Oh?"

"You aren't an arrogant, bullying toerag anymore, that's for sure. Why else would I have married you? I wouldn't have looked at you twice if you didn't change and start to actually grow up in our sixth year."

"You were rather harsh on me, though, I have to say. You hated everything about me, and were suspicious whenever I did a good deed. By Merlin, it was as if I was the Devil himself."

Lily was quiet for a few moments before she spoke. "I have that feeling again, James."

"Lily…"

"No. I have to tell you this. I feel as if we'll get killed and won't be together again. However, I have a feeling that Harry will live. We will die, but Harry will live and thrive in the Wizarding world once more, and defeat Voldemort."

"Oh, so now you're like Trelawney, that old hag?"

"James, I'm serious. I know it sounds complete ludicrous and fantastic, but it's a strong feeling that I just can't shake off."

"You could've at least spared off the part where we're supposed to die. I'm only twenty-one, and I have my whole life ahead of me. We're the famous pair of Aurors at the Ministry, and everyone knows and respects us. I'm not about to have my life ended by some insane Dark wizard who's going to take over the world."

"What if it's true, James? What if we do die, but Harry miraculously lives?"

James looked thoughtful for a moment, as he rocked Harry back to sleep again. "Harry will be a hero, then. He'll be popular as soon as he steps onto the grounds of Hogwarts, though many people might fear him. He'll be kinder and more considerate than I ever was, and wouldn't be cocky, arrogant, or cruel. He'll grow up to be exactly how I'd want my son to be." Tears came to his eyes as he said this.

"No one will watch him, though."

"Plenty of people will. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and your friends, not to mention the rest of the Order."

"James, what happens if those people can't watch him?"

"Then Harry will have to raise himself up without us. Lily, why are you brooding about this? It's not like this is really going to happen."

A loud knock interrupted James, and Lily clutched her husband's arm fearfully, her heart pounding loudly. 

"Lily, take Harry and go! Go! Run! It's him! I'll hold him off—"

The door flew wide open, revealing the skeleton-like body of Lord Voldemort. He laughed harshly, and his red eyes scrutinized the scene.

"James Potter, we meet again," he said softly. "I remember you as a boy at Hogwarts. Rude, arrogant, just like your parents. However, there needn't be any reason for you to be anymore. I will make this death quick and painless, shall I?"

"You'll never get me," hissed James, clutching his wand. _"Expelliarmus!"_

__

"Avada Kedavra!" roared Voldemort.

James' eyes widened, as his body turned stiff and fell to the floor with a thump. His expression was a mixture of fear and also of determination. Though he did not want to, he had been prepared to die. His wand had dropped and shattered to the floor.

Lily gasped, as she held Harry tighter to her chest. No, it couldn't be. She looked over at her husband's dead body, as tears ran down her cheeks. James Henry Potter, the man she had known ever since she was eleven, was dead. Her love, the light of her life besides her son, was gone.

Memories of her Hogwarts days flashed in Lily's mind. The first train ride to Hogwarts…she and James glaring at each other…getting Jennifer and Remus together…dancing with James…laughing with James…James proposing…James kissing her…

It was all too painful. Though they did not like each other many times in their life, they were still in love. Now, James was gone. She stared at his face, her whole body shaking. If Voldemort would kill her, she would be prepared for it.

"Please," she whispered. "Not Harry, not Harry!"

"Stand aside now, girl, stand aside—"

"Please, not Harry! I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl."

"Take me, kill me instead."

There, she had said it. She wanted Harry to live and flourish. She didn't want him to die at the hands of this man. Lily wanted to see her baby boy grow up, marry, and be happy, and she would risk her life to see that happen.

__

"Avada Kedavra!"

Lily's body landed right next to James'.

***

Hagrid wiped away tears as he saw the scene. The Potter's hiding place at Godric's Hollow was completely destroyed. The house was torn down, all their belongings broken. Lily and James' bodies were lying next to each other near where baby Harry was crying softly.

"There, there," he whispered, picking the small bundle up into his large arms. "Yer going't be all right, little fellow." 

He looked over at Lily and James' bodies. "Lily, James, how could this have happened? You two're the greatest wizard and witch I's ever known."

Hagrid then looked at Harry and gave a small smile. He looked just like his dad, but had his mum's eyes. He also had both of his parent's strength and will to fight.

"Yer going't be a great wizard someday, 'arry," he said gently to the baby, who had stopped crying. "Yer parents were good people. Greatest people I's ever known. They were in love, and they never gave up n'matter what happened."

He stared at the Potters' bodies once more. "Ye can fin'lly rest in peace now, Lily an' James."

Hagrid flew off on Sirius' motorbike with Harry. Memories of a bygone period gently floated into the still dark atmosphere, an era both terrible and wonderful, and disappeared into the night.

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: Whoo-hooo! Cheer for me here, people! This is the final chapter of "Lily and James Potter: Their Story"! There will be an epilogue, of course, but this is the final installment of the story itself. It know it was rather crappy, because I'm really busy right now, but I rather liked the ending…nice and angsty, don't you think? Oh, I had a blast at Washington D.C., and I apologize effusively for the large delay in updating this chappie. 

Thank you to all my reviewers! I, unfortunately, don't have time to thank you individually, so I'll thank you as a group! :D


	32. Epilogue

Epilogue

Harry Potter slipped his arm around Ginny's waist, and sighed blissfully. Everything seemed perfect just then. Voldemort was finally defeated, his best friends were getting married, and he had his wonderful girlfriend, Ginny, beside him, whom he was going to propose to after she graduated from Hogwarts next year. He had never felt happier in his whole life.

Ron and Hermione both smiled at their best friend, who was grinning the whole time. It brought them joy to see him actually happy, for he hadn't smiled properly since their third year at Hogwarts.

"Remus visiting tonight?" asked Ron, munching on a cookie.

"How can he? It's pouring rain outside, Ron."

"Well, Harry, it's a thing called Apparition," his best friend replied sarcastically. "I think you've lived long enough in the Wizarding world to know that."

"Remus is still recovering from the last battle, Ron," scolded Ginny. "He was lucky he survived. I was so afraid that he'd die."

"Lupin would never die, Gin. He's got too much willpower to survive, and Voldemort can never take that away from him."

Ron had gotten into the habit of saying "Voldemort" instead of "You-Know-Who".

"So, what're you girls making for us tonight?" queried Harry, changing the subject. The less they talked about the war, the better.

"You mean, what are you guys going to make for us tonight?" paraphrased Ginny.

"We don't know how to cook!" exclaimed Ron in outrage. "It's the women's job, not us men. We're supposed to care for the family."

"Ron, there's magic," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "You can do anything with your wand. Now get to work you two. We women will rest today while you two feed us instead of vice versa."

"We have good-paying jobs—"

"As do I," his girlfriend interrupted. "I'm an Auror like you and Harry."

Ron looked at Harry helplessly. "Guess it's up to us then, Harry."

Harry shrugged, and followed his friend to the kitchen. They took out the thick cookbook of Mrs. Weasley's, and proceeded to look in it for a good, simple recipe. They didn't want to admit to the girls that they had no experience whatsoever with cooking. After all, it was just like potion brewing, and Merlin knew they failed _that._

Half an hour later, it turned out that they were even worse than the two young men thought they were. Harry and Ron were covered in flour from head-to-toe, and the kitchen was an absolute mess. The girls had come into the kitchen to see what progress they had made, and left the kitchen laughing their heads off along with the two men. After all, they couldn't trust a man to do the cooking…it just wasn't their nature. Harry and Ron were taught how to fight through the world, not cook.

The doorbell rang. Harry looked quizzically over at his friends and girlfriend, and opened the door. In front of him was Remus Lupin, along with three other women he did not know.

"Remus," he greeted warmly, "what a surprise. What brings you here on such a horrendous night as this?"

"Business," was the succinct reply.

"Well, come on in. We've got dinner all ready. Who're these three lovely women?"

Remus smiled. "This is Arabella Figg, Jennifer Dean, and Violet Walker. Girls, this is Harry Potter. I do believe you know him."

There was an audible gasp from the women as one of them, a curly-headed brunette, fainted. The two others, a blonde and a dark-haired woman, hurriedly revived the brunette with their wands.

"Fans, I presume?" questioned Harry, raising his eyebrow at the scene.

Remus shook his head.

"Not fans, Harry. These three women were your mother's old school friends."

There was a silence that followed. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, who had come to see what the commotion was, looked at the graying man with shock.

"Nice to meet you, then," said Harry in an awkward voice. "Er—I guess you know who I am."

The young woman who had fainted smiled at him. "I'm Arabella Figg," she whispered. "I'm the daughter of the Mrs. Figg you know, I believe."

"Ah, yes, Mrs. Figg. A very hearty woman, I must say."

"Jennifer Dean," said the blonde brightly. 

"Violet Walker," said the last woman quietly.

"Bella, Jenny, and Vi came to the old Order headquarters at Sirius' house today," began Remus. "I was frankly surprised, since I hadn't seen them since the day of your parents' deaths. They explained that they had fled to the States after everything fell apart, when Lily and James died and Sirius had been sent to Azkaban. They have now returned, Harry, after they heard of Sirius' innocence and your defeat of Voldemort."

"Sirius…" said Harry softly. "He would've loved that, seeing his name cleared. If only he was with us tonight, eh, Remus?"

"That would have been wonderful, yes, Harry. Now, these women have something they wish to say to you."

"Harry, we're sorry we couldn't be there for you," said Arabella quietly. "I was so distraught that night when Lily and James died. I thought Sirius, who was my husband, had betrayed my best friends, so I changed my name from Arabella Figg Black to simply Arabella Figg again. I lived a lie and told every man I dated afterwards that I was single, even though I was married to an Azkaban convict. My heart soared when I heard that Sirius was innocent, but it cried when I heard that he had died two years ago."

"You were married to Sirius." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I was. We had been dating ever since we were kids at Hogwarts. Sure, we had more falling-outs than any other Hogwarts couple, and we've gone our separate ways before, but we've always loved each other. Now that he's—he's—" She couldn't say it. 

"I feel awful about it as well," said the blonde sadly. "Harry, if only we could have taken you in instead of letting those horrid Muggle relatives do it. I remember Lily's sister, Petunia, very well, and living with her family would not be what I call enjoyment. Do you forgive us?"

"There's nothing to forgive," replied Harry smoothly. "It wasn't your fault that I was sent to the Dursley's. Professor Dumbledore would have sent me there anyway, because he had enclosed protection around the area of my relatives. Besides, I would have done the same thing if I were in your position. Thinking that one of your friends betrayed two of your other friends would cause anyone to try and run away from the past."

"Very wise boy, aren't you? You're just like Lily, Harry."

He looked at Jennifer with some surprise. "You're the first one to actually say that. Most say that I'm like my dad."

"That you are as well, Harry," spoke up Violet, "but you have more of your mother in you. You may look exactly like James, but you have your mother in you."

"Thanks." He smiled. "I've been waiting for someone to say that I'm more like my mom than my dad."

"I hope you aren't ashamed of your father, Harry," said Remus gently. "He was a good person."

"Remus, everyone says that! Why don't they understand that my dad was a bully at school, who hexed people for fun? I even felt bad for Snape at that pensieve scene I saw in my fifth year, and that's certainly saying something."

"Harry, if it wasn't for your father, who knew what could have happened to you and your mother," put in Arabella. "Lily was my best friend at Hogwarts, and James was my friend. We all felt their losses very much."

"However," said Jennifer lightly, "it wasn't all depressing at Hogwarts. We had some great times together, hadn't we, guys?"

"Ah, yes, good times, Jen, good times."

Harry watched Remus give Jennifer a tender look, and he looked at his guardian curiously. That was when he decided to do a little prying and ask Remus subtly about how he came to know the three women.

"So, you guys all dated each other at Hogwarts?" he asked casually.

"Lily and James, Sirius and I, Remus and Jennifer, and Violet and Jackson Bradley," announced Arabella proudly.

There was a loud chorus of "Remus and Jennifer!" and _"Jackson Bradley!" _that followed.

Remus blushed. "Arabella…" he warned.

"Whoops, must've let that slip. Sorry, Remus."

"You went out with Jackson Bradley?" asked Hermione to Violet incredulously.

She nodded. "Yeah. We—ended our relationship when I fled to the States. Is he—married?"

"He had been re-recruited back to the Order a few years back," supplied Remus. "Jack and Ellyn Bedson, that woman who used to work alongside Jenny at the Ministry, had married. They have two kids now."

Violet bit her lip, and looked away. She had hoped that Jackson was still unmarried and free, so they could reestablish their relationship and get married. However, it wasn't likely that he would be free after she ended their relationship. Jackson was handsome, clever, and kind, and women had run after him at school and after. There was no way he could have not gotten another girlfriend after her.

"I'm sorry, Vi," said Jennifer sadly, hugging her friend. "I know how much you still love him."

"I shouldn't have left Britain," said Violet determinedly, looking over at Harry and his friends. "I was a coward. I couldn't face the facts that my one of my friends murdered my two best friends. I didn't want anyone to know that I had been friends with Sirius Black, now a murderer and sent to Azkaban. I left behind my family, my boyfriend, and some of the best years of my life here, and I return, only to find everything I ever loved lost."

"You never did like Ellyn, did you?" said Remus.

"Well, I expected Jackson to marry right after we broke up, anyway. It's not surprising to me that he married Ellyn. She was always a big flirt with him, always trying to cozy up to him. Ellyn must have snagged Jack with some of her moves, I expect."

"We don't really like Mrs. Bradley," admitted Ron brazenly. "She's way too conceited and haughty. Did you hear her the other day? She was too afraid to spoil her complexion. I do wonder why Mr. Bradley ever married her sometimes. She's awfully spoiled."

"Jack probably just married her out of good will. Has he ever mentioned me at all?"

"He has, once or twice," said Remus thoughtfully. "He's told me that he still loves you, Vi. He respects Ellyn, but he'd never feel the same way about another woman again after you. However, like you said, Jack married Ellyn anyway, just because she seemed to like him so much. You know how soft-hearted the guy gets when people want something out of him."

"I know it all too well, Remus." Violet smiled. "We can still be friends, though. I don't mind; it was my fault, anyway."

"Enough of this," said Arabella loudly. "This is too depressing. Anyway, Harry, about us when we were kids at Hogwarts—"

"Please, no, Bella." Remus groaned.

"Oh, yes, do tell," agreed Ron eagerly. He wanted to know what secrets Remus had been hiding from them for all those years.

"As I was saying, Lily and James hated each other the moment they met. At least, that's what the rest of us got out of it. Your parents, Harry, had agreed to several things when they were younger. They first agreed to the fact that they would hate each other for eternity. Then, they agreed to be friends. Lastly, they had agreed to be lovers and never let anything part them. Funny, how things change over time."

"Why did they hate each other, anyway?" said Harry, wrinkling his nose. "I never did get a reason out of that question."

Arabella looked thoughtful, and turned to her two best friends. "I always though it was because they liked each other too much."

"Well, James _was _a bit arrogant up until sixth year," admitted Jennifer. 

"A bit?" said Remus, snorting.

"All right, a lot. However, I never did get why James hated Lily at first as well. Everyone was always so fond of her, especially the teachers. Only he and the Slytherins didn't like her, but the latter didn't like any of us Gryffindors anyway. Mind you, Lily was stuck-up at school, too, so maybe that was the reason."

"It all goes back to egoism, then," explained Arabella, looking back to Harry. "I can't say much of that for your mother, but she was a bit frigid at times with rules and all."

"Like someone else we know," put in Ginny, glancing over at Hermione.

Harry grinned, and then his countenance faded into sadness once more. He was sorry that he looked down so at his father. Arabella was right; without his father, his mother and him would've been goners. James Potter might've been an arrogant twit in most of his Hogwarts days, but he would've been a wonderful father to Harry if he had lived. Tears threatened to fall from his green eyes as Harry hastily wiped them away for fear of embarrassment. He didn't want to cry now, not in front of his mother's best friends and Remus. 

He looked over at the wall, where there was a large picture of his parents and their friends. Lily was standing there smiling, with baby Harry in her arms, and James had a long, gangly arm around her shoulders, grinning proudly at his young son. Sirius was standing between James and Remus, a bony hand on each of his friends' shoulders. Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet were kneeling on the grass below them, their arms linked together and countenances joyous. Peter had not been present for the picture, of which Harry was thankful for, and Jackson had taken it before everything all fell apart. 

Even though Harry didn't know his parents at all, he felt their presence just then, along with Sirius. A warm feeling spread through his body as he looked through the window and into the night sky. 

"Lily and James," murmured Violet, sighing heavily. A frown crossed her delicate features, as her dark brown eyes surveyed the sky along with Harry. "Do you think I can—visit Jackson tomorrow?"

"Of course," replied Hermione warmly. "He'd probably love to see you again. Who knows, maybe he'll leave Mrs. Bradley for you as well."

"Hermione!" exclaimed Ron, breaking Harry's thoughts in the process. "Just the very thought of it! Mrs. Bradley would surely kill herself if that happened."

"I don't care about Jackson loving me," concluded Violet, shaking her head at Ron's behavior. "I just want to see him again, and have those old feelings come over to me once more. My feelings for him are very latent right now, since I haven't seen him or thought of him for years. I want to feel that sense of warmth and strength whenever he's near me. He can stay with Ellyn for all I care, but I just want to see and feel Jackson, my old love, once more."

Ginny sniffled, bring a handkerchief to her eyes. She always had a soft heart, despite her famous Weasley temper. It wasn't hard to make her cry; even the simplest things brought tears to her eyes. She glanced over at her boyfriend, and saw that he looked as if he were going to cry as well. Ginny knew that this was because the memories of his parents and Sirius had come over him again.

She gave a small laugh, despite herself. She had thought in her fourth year that she was over that little crush on Harry. However, in her fifth year, she discovered that it was still there. How much they had been through to get together! It was almost hilarious, thinking upon those events that brought Ginny and Harry's reunion.

"What's so funny?" demanded Ron.

"I was just remembering how Harry and I got together," she responded, shaking with laughter now.

Harry's eyes tore away from the window as he chuckled as well. "Ah, yes, that was quite some event, wasn't it?"

"Do tell," offered Jennifer. "I love to hear these things."

"It's the wackiest and most messed-up love story ever," said Ginny, shaking her head, "but it's still ours."

"In Ginny's fifth year, my sixth," began Harry, "and I didn't have a girlfriend at that point. In fact, I had only been with one girl, Cho Chang, and that was only for one year. Anyway, I began to notice little Ginny Weasley, the little sister of my best friend and a part of my favorite family. I wasn't the only one who noticed her, certainly. Ginny had grown very pretty at age fifteen, with her flaming red hair softening a little and her gorgeous hazel eyes. However, I was terrified at what Ron might think, since it was his little sister we were talking about. So I kept it quiet. I didn't know that Ginny also had her eye on me, either, and neither of us made it especially obvious of our feelings, so no one suspected a thing."

"That's when Hermione stepped into the whole mess," continued Ginny. "She's always noticed things that normal people don't pay attention to. She offered to help Harry and me, though we didn't know of each other's plans with Hermione. So Hermione had told us individually what to do, and we were confident of her advice, not knowing that we'd confront each other and that we'd admit our true feelings to each other."

"I remember now!" exclaimed Ron, laughing loudly. "Oh, man, it was so entertaining, watching you two telling each other your feelings, and then Ginny running off because she thought Harry was playing some sick joke on her."

"You know," remarked Hermione dryly. "I don't remember you thinking it amusing at all, Ronald Weasley, when it actually took place. You were shaking your finger at Harry and shouting all sorts of obscenities, thinking it was his fault."

"I did not! You're lying."

"I never lie."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

__

"No."

"Oh, Merlin, you two sound just like Lily and James did," groaned Remus. "They used to argue about the stupidest things all the time, it was really quite interesting to watch."

"Yes," confirmed Arabella. "They once argued because James couldn't find his favorite shirt, and he had made a stupid remark about 'it was the women's job to look after the clothes', and he and Lily got into this big argument."

Harry looked over at his two best friends, who had both turned beet red. Maybe those two were like his parents, but he'd never know. He also didn't want to mope around and think wistfully about how it would've been if Voldemort didn't exist. No, it was better this way for his parents and Sirius to be dead. Who knew what would've happened if Voldemort did not start his reign of terror that had destroyed so many lives. Harry learned to get over the deaths of the victims of Voldemort and move on with life. Sure, he had been more than bitter in his fifth year, but with the help of his friends and replacement family (namely, the Order of the Phoenix), he had learned to appreciate life as it was and not become hardened and bitter of spirit because of everything he had lost. 

He smiled at his current guardian, Remus. Remus had taught Harry well. He had been his favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts back at Hogwarts, not to mention one of his father's best friends. Remus was so wise beyond his age, and held so much philosophy for Harry whenever the latter felt as though the world would end. Harry did often wonder where Remus learned all of what he said. Perhaps it was through experience, since Remus did have a painful and tough life as well. However, nothing ever broke his spirit.

Harry realized, then, that nothing broke his parents' or Sirius' spirits either. He had heard from Remus, and now his mother's best friends, that James Potter was a special person. He wasn't just some random man in the crowd with a wife and a child—no, he was different. James had been the top Auror in the Ministry after going through his training for three years, and he and Lily had saved millions of lives, though losing their own in process. 

__

"Your father was the best friend I ever had, Harry."

Weren't those the words spoken by Sirius himself before his death? Maybe James Potter hadn't been so bad. Maybe Harry had been too harsh on judging his father, and too lenient on Snape at that time. After all, Snape was a suspicious person, though he had forgiven his greasy-haired, hook-nosed Potions master long ago. Snape was now dead, having fought gallantly for the Order's sake.

Harry ran a hand through his untidy black hair, just as James had done more than twenty years ago. A painful pang went through his heart as he repeated the word: James. It sounded so surreal, like a whisper from the past. His parents had a better childhood than him, because it was before Voldemort and the pain. He couldn't blame his father for being the way he was back at Hogwarts. The Potters had always been rich, and James Potter had always been coddled ever since he was born. He had never experienced any pain or unfairness, because everyone in the Wizarding world had looked up to his family with awe and respect.

Lily Potter. Harry felt another pang, as he closed his eyes, envisioning a beautiful woman with dark red hair and eyes just like his. His mother had been amazing, or so he had been told. She was beautiful, intelligent, and willful, always with a purpose and a reason to live. No wonder why his father had fallen in love with her. They made a wonderful couple.

"I still miss those two," said Violet, laughing through her tears. "Man, remember, those days, Bella, Jen, Remus? I'll treasure them as long as I live. We used to tell those idiots all the time that they were meant to be."

"They'd never believe us either," said Jennifer, rolling her eyes. She, too, was crying. "Sirius too…who knew he'd be subjected to such a fate."

Arabella bit her lip to keep from crying, as she sighed wistfully, looking out of the window. "Yes, who did know? Sirius used to be so playful and so desirable. I remember every girl chasing after him at Hogwarts, yet he had stuck to my side throughout most of his life before he was cantered off to Azkaban for something he didn't do. There's no use moping about it though; he would've hated it to know that I mourned over him. Sirius always did hate people being unhappy, didn't he?"

"He'd always brighten up a dark situation. I found him tactless like that, but now I see his motives for doing such."

Harry stiffened as he felt a comforting hand on his shoulders, and looked up to find Remus, smiling gently at him. He smiled back at his guardian. Yes, Remus was very comforting, and Harry knew he was lucky to have such an adopted parent. Remus always had that gentle way about him that made your heart at peace. There was an aura of wisdom around the graying man as he approached you that made you feel as if everything would be all right. Harry looked over at Jennifer, who was currently staring at Remus with love all written in her eyes. He vaguely wondered if Remus and Jennifer were still going out.

"So you two dated, huh?" Harry had gotten that question out which had been bothering me for a while, and gestured toward Remus and Jennifer.

"Yes," affirmed Remus, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Used to date at Hogwarts. We—broke up after, though."

"Why?"

"My—problems."

"So who broke up with who?" 

Ginny glared at her boyfriend and nudged him sharply in the ribs, but he paid no heed to her gesture of warning. After all, even though he was prying into someone else's business, he wanted to play matchmaker and bring Remus and Jennifer back together again, and rekindle their latent feelings for each other.

"I broke up with Jennifer a few months after our graduation from Hogwarts," explained Remus placidly.

A silence followed, the air felt very uncomfortable and awkward. Hermione gave a small huff of impatience, as she shook her head sadly at Harry. Ron was sober, picking at his nails and chewing on his lip thoughtfully. Every now and then, he'd steal a hasty glance toward Remus and Jennifer, who were stoically staring at the ceiling and carefully avoiding each other's glances. Ginny was still glaring at her boyfriend in anger. However, Arabella, Violet, and Harry were looking deeply amused and suspiciously mischievous.

Arabella looked around and everyone who was still silent, and threw up her hands in frustration. "Land sakes, Remus, Jennifer, you two make up already! I'm sick of seeing you guys still avoiding each other and thinking that you don't have feelings for each other anymore even though you do. Come on Remus, kiss the girl already. You were the one who started all the pain, after all."

Remus sighed and looked at Jennifer. All those old feelings he had harbored for twenty years came back to him, and he walked swiftly toward her and kissed her. It was like fireworks when it happened, and he felt as though everything would be all right after that.

Harry smiled when this happened. He had grown fond of his mother's best friends in the short time they had stayed, and he wrapped an arm around Ginny when he saw the exchange of affection between Remus and Jennifer. His parents would have wanted this, that was for sure. 

"I love you, Jenny," he heard Remus whisper.

"I love you too, Remus."

Harry looked out into the night sky once more, his heart aching with joy and sadness all at once. If only his parents and Sirius could have seen this. An image of his father came to his brain as he saw, for a brief moment, a dark-haired man holding a redhead in his arms, with another dark-haired man grinning in the background. He blinked, and the image was gone. What was wrong with him?

"Goodnight, Mum, Dad, Sirius," he whispered quietly.

For a brief moment, though Harry almost knew that his mind was playing tricks on him, he thought he heard a reply, "Goodnight, Harry."

- - - - -

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything.

A/N: Ah! This epilogue wasn't as good as I imagined, but it's decent, I imagine. It was a little shorter than I intended as well, but that's all right. Anyway, I started a new story called This I Swear, which is a Katie/Oliver fic based on Nick Lachey's song, "This I Swear". Anyway, if you're interested, the first chapter is up, and I'll be done with the second chapter very soon. 

Thank you so much to all my reviewers (yes, even you flamers)!


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